Bangalore: Dr Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, chairman and managing director, Biocon, has been ranked 80th on Forbes' list of the most powerful women in the world. The list, which is published on an annual basis, profiles influential women from across the globe with backgrounds ranging from politics, philanthrophy, technology, business and cinema.

Dr Shaw has long been hailed as one of the most successful businesswomen in India. Moreover, Biocon has been ranked India's second largest biotechnology company by the BioSpectrum-ABLE Top 20 Survey 2012.

Last year Biocon became the fastest growing insulin company in India with the group revenues for FY 2011-12 touching Rs2,148 crores. Biocon was started in a garage by Dr Shaw in 1978 as an industrial enzymes producing company and since then has grown to be the country's 11th largest pharmaceutical company by market capitalization ($66.8 billion), according to the survey.

The Forbes list also includes other prominent Indian personalities such as Ms Sonia Gandhi, chairperson, UPA and president of the Congress party; Ms Padmashree Warrior, chief technology and strategy officer, Cisco Systems; and Ms Chanda Kochhar, MD and CEI, ICICI Bank, ranked 6th, 58th and 59th, respectively.