Biocon chief is India's wealthiest woman

With Biocon listing on Wednesday, the company's chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, 50, became India's wealthiest woman with a personal net worth of Rs 1,920 crore (Rs 19.2 billion).

Biocon made a spectacular debut on the bourses, opening at Rs 435 against an offer price of Rs 315 for every Rs 5 paid-up share. The issue was subscribed 32 times.

The scrip's price zoomed to Rs 507 in intra-day trades before closing at Rs 484.35, a solid 52 per cent premium over the offer price. Mazumdar-Shaw holds 39.64 per cent of Biocon's equity capital.

Thus, on day one of listing, Mazumdar-Shaw ranks as the 15th richest billionaire in India, displacing Venu Srinivasan of TVS Motors from that slot.

At the closing price of Rs 484.35, the company is valued at $1.11 billion at the rupee-dollar rate of Rs 43.54. Mazumdar's 39.64 per cent stake is currently valued at Rs 1,920 crore ($449 million), which puts her ahead of Sudha Gopalkrishan, whose net worth currently stands at Rs 1,023 crore (Rs 10.23 billion). Gopalakrishnan's wealth comes from her holding of 1.92 million shares in Infosys Technologies.

Sudha Murthy, wife of Infosys Technologies founder, Narayana Murthy ranks third among women billionaires, with a personal net worth of Rs 775 crore (Rs 7.75 billion).

The other women billionaires are Rohini Nilenkani  (wife of Nandan Nilekani) and Akshata Murthy (daughter of Narayana Murthy) and both are individually worth Rs 675 crore (Rs 6.75 billion).

Anu Aga, chairperson of the Pune-based Thermax, is worth Rs 699 crore (Rs 6.99 billion), Asha Dinesh (Infosys Technologies) is worth Rs 587 crore (Rs 5.87 billion), Jamuna Raghvan (wife of former Infosys Technologies joint managing director N S Raghavan) is worth Rs 554 crore (Rs 5.54 billion). Priyamvada Birla, chairperson of the MP Birla group, has a personal net worth of Rs 310 crore (Rs 3.1 billion).