Now, Anil to hard-talk with women CEOs

Fuelled by his recent debut as interviewer when he qiuzzed HARDtalk host Tim Sebastian, Reliance Vice-Chairman and MD Anil Ambani is set to play moderator to a panel discussion chaired by eight high-profile corporate Indian women. And it promises to be a lot tougher than the Sebastian interview — we do know how gritty women can be, don’t we?
Come Friday and HSBC’s Naina Lal Kidwai, ICICI’s Chanda Kochhar, Themax’s Anu Agha, Kinetic Engineering’s Sullaja Firodia Motwani, Star News’ Ravina Raj Kohli, Jet Airways’ Nita Goyal, Biotique’s Vinita Jain, and fashion designer Ritu Beri will debate on ‘What prevents Indian women from becoming CEOs?’ These women, having soared in their careers, will in the discussion moderated by Ambani analyse the Indian corporate scenario.Together they will identify and suggest how to plug the loopholes that restrict Indian women’s growth up the corporate ladder.
Though his role at the discussion is primarily to give each lady a chance to talk, to steer the evening and finally question the panelists, Ambani won’t give them the Tim Sebastian treatment (read: a tough time). He has great faith in the Indian woman CEO. “The stage is now set for the Indian woman to take flight. They have all that it takes to lead a company. And this isn’t a recent development; history plays witness to the Indian housewife, a great manager, and now that they have entered what was a men’s-only domain, they have yet again proved their mettle.�
The December 6 event at Mumba’s Taj Mahal hotel is the grand finale to the 12 annual events which form part of the Wharton Alumni Association of India (WAAI) calendar.