The Economic Times Corporate Dossier Annual Survey of India Inc’s (Incorporated) Most Powerful CEOs (chief executive officers) finds Ratan Tata at the top of the chart, pipping to the post corporate heavyweights like Mukesh Ambani, N. R. Narayana Murthy, Kumar Mangalam Birla and others. Published on April 16, 2010, the Survey states that Tata has been voted not only India Inc’s most powerful CEO for 2009, but also the CEO of the Decade. "With marquee acquisitions, the game changing Nano, and a global growth agenda, the 72-year-old has primed India’s premier business house for another long innings,” the paper writes.
Adi Godrej, chairman of the Godrej Group, stands at No. 19, much higher than the No. 27 he was the previous year. Nusli Wadia is at No. 51 and had not figured in the previous year’s top 100. Percy Sigan-poria, MD of Tata Tea (now called Tata Global Beverages) is at No. 81, having been at No. 72 earlier. Meher Pudumjee, chairperson of Thermax, is at No. 100, not having figured the previous year.
The findings were based on the companies’ revenues, bottom-line, market leadership, last year’s rankings and other parameters like thought leadership and industry impact. In a separate list of 15 Most Powerful Women Leaders, Zia Mody of the law firm AZB and Partners finds a spot at No. 14.