An Indian woman has been recognised as one of the world’s richest women in a new report released by Forbes.
Savitri Jindal, is the wife of Om Prakash Jindal, who founded the Indian conglomerate Jindal group. The 74 year old Savitri serves as the group’s chairperson.
With a total net worth of $33.5 billion, she has been recognised as the 46th richest person overall and the sixth richest woman in the world by Forbes.
The Jindal group is known for power and steel products but also has massive stakes in mining, power generation, industrial gases and ports.
Her husband, Om Prakash, began his work by making buckets in 1952 and eventually set up a steel business with enough revenue to diversify.
However, he died in a helicopter crash in 2005 after which his wife took over as chairperson.
Although she has a total of nine children, the companies were divided between four of her sons.
The largest share of the businesses went to Sajjan Jindal, who runs the JSW steel business among other projects.
Sajjan Jindal made headlines in Pakistan in 2017 when he dropped in for an unannounced visit to meet then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The visit was later termed as ‘backdoor diplomacy’.