Indra Nooyi comes second on Forbes world’s most powerful women in business list

CHENNAI:

PepsiCo

CEO Indra Nooyi comes second on the Forbes' list of most powerful women in business in 2017. She is second only to

Mary T Barra

, CEO of GM. Last year, Nooyi was ranked No 3 on the list.

"Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi moves up in the ranking due to her response to the long-term decline in soda drinking in the US by adding to her company’s healthier product lines. Adjusting to shifts in consumer habits also makes Pepsi a more attractive partner to Whole Foods, recently purchased by Amazon and poised to shake up the grocery industry," said Forbes.

Forbes said that its list of women were chosen for "driving their companies through social and technological changes such as consumers adopting healthier habits and nations setting ambitious goals for renewable energy."

Biocon chairwoman

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

is ranked at No 14 on the list.

When it comes to Forbes’ list of the 20 most powerful women in the world, Nooyi moved up to No 11 from No 14 last year.

Among the most powerful women in the world are Angel Merkel (No 1), Theresa May (No 2), Melinda Gates (No 3), followed by YouTube CEO Susan Wojciki (No 6), Christine Lagarde (No 8) and Ivanka Trump at (No 19). For Ivanka, this marks the first year she is making it to the list.

ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar was ranked at No 32 this year, ahead of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi (No 33). Roshni Nadar Malhotra CEO & ED of HCL Enterprises was ranked at No 57, Shaw at No 71 and Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra at No 97.