Major metropolitan cities in which respondents were interviewed include Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Cochin, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Indore, Patna, Pune, Chandigarh and Dehradun.

On the eve of Women’s Day, Assocham’s study based on the survey of 2,000 corporates employees from 32 various companies/organizations across 11 broad sectors of the economy. A little over 200 employees were selected from each city on an average.

The survey reveals that Shikha Sharma, MD and CEO, Axis Bank ranks 6th position followed by Vidya Balan (7th), one of the pre-eminent leading ladies of Bollywood, Olympics medal winner Mary Kom stood at 8th position and badminton star Saina Nehwal at 10th rank.

Around 55 per cent of the survey respondents fall under the age bracket of 20-29 years, followed by 30-39 years (26 per cent), 40-49 years (16 per cent), 50-59 years (2 per cent) and 60-69 years (approximately 1 per cent).

The survey was able to target corporate employees from 18 broad sectors, with maximum share contributed by employees from IT/ITes sector (17 per cent).

Naina Lal Kidwai, Country Head of HSBC ranks 11th in the list of most leading women of country followed by Swati Piramal (12th), Vice Chairperson of Piramal Life Sciences limited and Director of Piramal Healthcare Limited.

Ms Shabana Azmi, one of the most leading actresses to have graced the screens of Bollywood, lies at 13th position, adds the survey. Ekta Kapoor, the Creative Director of Balaji Telefilms ranks 14th position for her entrepreneurial skills and achievements, mentions the survey.

Zoya Akhtar, one of great directors of the Indian cinema scores the 15th position. Sushma Swaraj (16th), the Member of the Indian Parliament, leader of opposition and a well-known political figure is a role model for women who are looking to achieve great heights.

Ms. Jayalalithaa Jayaram, the Chief Minister of the state of Tamil Nadu, who was a popular film star in Indian cinema before her entry into politics, having appeared in many Tamil and Telugu films, as well as several produced in Hindi and Kannada scores 17th position.

Ms. Vinita Bali, Managing Director, Britannia Industries ranks 18 followed by Ms. Shobha De, an eminent Indian novelist, who is often known as India's Jackie Collins also scores the 19th position and Ms. Mamata Banerjee (20th), current chief minister of the Indian state of West Bengal.