Indra Nooyi, Chanda Kochhar among top 100 powerful women

Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo; Congress party president, Sonia Gandhi; Chanda Kochhar, CEO ofICICI Bank; and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman, Biocon India, are the only Indians in Forbes annual list of the 100 most powerful women.

Indra Nooyi named CEO of the year

The list, which was released last night, includes fiery chief executives, brilliant politicians and beloved queens, but the model for all women who seek influence, is the cautious and uncharismatic German Chancellor, Angela Merkel.

While Nooyi is listed as the third most powerful woman in the world, Sonia Gandhi, Kochhar and Shaw are ranked 13, 20 and 91 respectively. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed is the only other South Asian in the list and is ranked 78.

Nooyi among 13 women CEOs in Fortune 500 list

Americans make up 63 of the 100, while only four women from Britain make the grade

In assembling the list, Forbes looked for women who run countries, big companies or influential nonprofits. Their rankings are a combination of two scores:

Amartya Sen, Nooyi, Mittal in PM's panel

Visibility-by press mentions-and the size of the organisation or country these women lead.

The list is as follows:

1 Angela Merkel, Chancellor Germany

2 Sheila Bair Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. U.S.

3 Indra Nooyi, Chief executive, PepsiCo U.S.

4 Cynthia Carroll, Chief executive, Anglo American U.K.

5 Ho Ching, Chief executive, Temasek Singapore

6 Irene Rosenfeld, Chief executive, Kraft Foods U.S.

7 Ellen Kullman, Chief executive, DuPont U.S.

8 Angela Braly, Chief executive, WellPoint U.S.

9 Anne Lauvergeon, Chief executive, Areva France

10 Lynn Elsenhans, Chief executive, Sunoco U.S.

11 Cristina Fernandez, President Argentina

12 Carol Bartz, Chief executive, Yahoo U.S.

13 Sonia Gandhi, President, Indian National Congress Party India

14 Ursula Burns, Chief executive, Xerox Corp. U.S.

15 Anne Mulcahy, Chairman, Xerox Corp. U.S.

16 Safra Catz, President, Oracle U.S.

17 Christine Lagarde, Minister of Economy, Finance and Employment France

18 Gail Kelly, Chief executive, Westpac Australia

19 Marjorie Scardino, Chief executive, Pearson Plc. U.K.

20 Chanda Kochhar, Chief executive, ICICI Bank India

21 Mary Sammons, Chief executive, Rite Aid Corp. U.S.

22 Michelle Bachelet, President, Chile

23 Paula Reynolds, Chief restructuring officer, AIG U.S.

24 Carol Meyrowitz, Chief executive, TJX Companies U.S.

25 Andrea Jung, Chief executive, Avon U.S.

26 Patricia Woertz, Chief executive, Archer Daniels Midland U.S.

27 Guler Sabanci, Chairman, Sabanci Holding Turkey

28 Barbara Desoer, President, Bank of America Mortgage, Home Equity and Insurance U.S.

29 Brenda Barnes, Chief executive, Sara Lee Corp. U.S.

30 Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, Chief executive, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation U.S.

31 Ann Livermore, Executive vice president, Hewlett-Packard U.S.

32 Cathie Lesjak, Executive vice president, Hewlett-Packard U.S.

33 Marina Berlusconi, Chairman, Fininvest Group Italy

34 Melinda Gates, Co-chairman, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation U.S.

35 Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, House of Representatives U.S.

36 Hillary Rodham, Clinton Secretary of State U.S.

37 Jane Mendillo, Chief executive, Harvard Management Co. U.S.

38 Margaret Chan, Director-general, World Health Org. Switzerland

39 Susan Chambers, Executive vice president, Global People Division, Wal-Mart Stores U.S.

40 Michelle Obama, First Lady U.S.

41 Oprah Winfrey, Chairman, Harpo U.S.

42 Queen Elizabeth II, Queen U.K.

43 Nancy McKinstry, Chief executive, Wolters Kluwer Netherlands

44 Gloria Arroyo, President, Philippines

45 Ana Patricia Botin, Executive Chairman, Banesto Spain

46 Ann Veneman, Executive Director, UNICEF U.S.

47 Yulia Tymoshenko, Prime minister, Ukraine

48 Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Supreme Court Justice U.S.

49 Janet Robinson, Chief executive, The New York Times Co. U.S.

50 Dominique Senequier, Chief executive, AXA Private Equity France

51 Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security U.S.

52 Neelie Kroes, Commissioner for Competition, European Union Belgium

53 Gail Boudreaux, President, UnitedHealthcare U.S.

54 Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court Justice U.S.

55 Mary Schapiro, Chairman Securities and Exchange Commission U.S.

56 Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services U.S.

57 Ellen Alemany, Chief executive, RBS Americas and Citizens Financial Group U.S.

58 Susan Ivey, Chief executive, Reynolds American U.S.

59 Amy Pascal, Co-chairman, Sony Pictures Entertainment U.S.

60 Helen Clark, Chairman, United Nations Development Group New Zealand

61 Judy McGrath, Chief executive, MTV Networks U.S.

62 Stacey Snider, Chief executive, DreamWorks SKG U.S.

63 Navanethem Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations South Africa

64 Janet Clark, Chief financial officer, Marathon Oil U.S.

65 Sherilyn McCoy, Worldwide chairman, Pharmaceuticals Group, Johnson and Johnson U.S.

66 Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President Liberia

67 Tarja Halonen, President Finland

68 Mary McAleese, President Ireland

69 Virginia Rometty, Senior vice president, IBM U.S.

70 Angela Ahrendts, Chief executive, Burberry Group Plc. U.K.

71 Sri Indrawati, Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Indonesia

72 Terri Dial, Chief executive, U.S. Consumer Bank, Citigroup U.S.

73 Deirdre Connelly, President, North American Pharmaceuticals, GlaxoSmithkline U.S.

74 Johanna Sigurdardottir, Prime minister Iceland

75 Queen Rania,  Jordan

76 Christina Gold, Chief executive, Western Union U.S.

77 Colleen Goggins, Worldwide chairman, Johnson and Johnson U.S.

78 Hasina Wajed, Prime minister Bangladesh

79 Hyun Jeong-eun, Chairman, Hyundai Group South Korea

80 Amy Schulman, Senior vice president, Pfizer U.S.

81 Penny Pritzker, Chairman, Classic Residence by Hyatt U.S.

82 Drew Faust,  President, Harvard University U.S.

83 Melanie Healey, Group president, Feminine and Health Care, Procter and Gamble U.S.

84 Elizabeth Smith, President, Avon U.S.

85 Deb Henretta, Group president, Asia, Procter and Gamble Singapore

86 Ann Moore, Chief executive, Time Inc. U.S.

87 Sallie Krawcheck, Chief executive global wealth management, Bank of America U.S.

88 Pamela Nicholson, President, Enterprise Rent-A-Car U.S.

89 Janice Fields, Chief operating officer, McDonald's USA U.S.

90 Stephanie Burns, Chief executive, Dow Corning U.S.

91 Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman, Biocon India

92 Eva Cheng, Executive vice president, Amway Greater China and Southeast Asia Hong Kong

93 Efrat Peled, Chief executive, Arison Investments Israel

94 Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of the Economy United Arab Emirates

95 Charlene Begley, Chief executive, GE Enterprise Solutions U.S.

96 Mindy Grossman, Chief executive, HSN, Inc. U.S.

97 Sharon Allen, Chairman, Deloitte and Touche U.S.

98 Anne Sweeney, Co-chairman, Disney Media Networks U.S.

99 Heidi Miller, Chief executive Treasury and Securities Services, JPMorgan Chase U.S.

100 Mary Erdoes, Chairman, JPMorgan Global Wealth Management U.S.