MUMBAI: Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani on Thursday called upon corporate India to collectively strengthen the ecosystem supporting working women and working mothers, asserting that women are no longer merely beneficiaries of progress but its architects and leaders across diverse fields.
Speaking at the launch of the Hindi edition of former SBI chairperson and Salesforce South Asia President and CEO Arundhati Bhattacharya’s memoir, Indomitable: A Working Woman’s Notes on Work, Life and Leadership, Ambani said Bhattacharya’s journey was an inspiration for working mothers worldwide and a reminder that corporate India still had much ground to cover in ensuring women receive the opportunities and support they deserve.
“Let us collectively launch an effective initiative to strengthen the ecosystem that supports working women and working mothers in corporate India,” Ambani said, urging Bhattacharya and other accomplished women leaders to guide the initiative. He added that the Reliance Foundation would fully participate alongside other organisations.
“You take leadership, we will follow you,” Ambani told Bhattacharya, calling for collective efforts to empower women leaders to help build the “new temples of Viksit Bharat”.
Ambani said his belief that “Stri shakti is Bharat ki Shakti” reflected India’s transition from women’s development to women-led development. “Women are no longer merely beneficiaries of progress. They are its architects, leading in business, science, sport, and our armed forces and communities across the globe,” he said.
Recalling the influence of his mother, Kokilaben Ambani, he said he had witnessed the strength of women leadership closely. He also described Bhattacharya as a “problem solver” and a strategic thinker capable of understanding both the present and the future.
Ambani said Reliance was proud to have an increasing number of women in senior leadership positions and highlighted the distinctive role women bring to organisational decision-making through what he termed the “empathy quotient”.
“It is now my firm conviction that our world needs more emotional quotient than intellectual quotient, which is to say more women in leadership positions,” Ambani said.
