Shobhana Bhartia | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Bhartia at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in 2013 | |
| Born | (1957-01-04)4 January 1957 (age 69) |
| Occupation | Business magnate |
| Term | 2006–2012 |
| Political party | Indian National Congress |
| Spouse | Shyam Sunder Bhartia |
| Father | KK Birla |
| Awards | Padma Shri |
| Member of Parliament,Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 16 February 2006 – 15 February 2012 | |
| Constituency | Nominated |
Shobhana Bhartia (born 4 January 1957) is an Indian businesswoman. She is the chairperson and editorial director of theHT Media, one of India's largest newspapers and media houses,[1] which she inherited from her father. She has also recently taken charge as the ChancellorBITS School of Management and Pro-Chancellor of BITS-Pilani (Birla Institute of Technology and Science,Pilani) which was founded by her grandfatherG. D. Birla and is the current chairperson of Endeavor India.
Closely associated with theCongress party, Shobhana served as a nominated member of theRajya Sabha, the upper chamber of the Indian parliament from 2006 to 2012. In 2016, she was listed as the 93rd most powerful woman in the World by Forbes.[2] She is married to Shyam Sunder Bhartia, co-founder of theJubilant Bhartia Group.[3]
Born in aMarwari family on 4 January 1957,[4][5] Bhartia is the daughter of the industrialist and Congress party memberKK Birla, and the granddaughter ofGD Birla, one of theBirla family patriarchs. The KK Birla family owned 75.36 per cent stake in HT Media, valued at ₹834 crores in 2004.[6] She grew up inKolkata and had her schooling atLoreto House.[7] She is a graduate ofCalcutta University,[8] and is married to Shyam Sunder Bhartia,[9] Chairman of the ₹1400 crore pharmaceutical firm Jubilant LifeScience Limited (a spinoff from the earlier chemicals venture Vam Organics). Shyam Sunder Bhartia is son of Late Mohan Lal Bhartia. She has two sons, Priyavrat Bhartiya, born on 4 October 1976 and Shamit Bhartiya, born on 27 April 1979. Their son Shamit Bhartia is also a Director at the HT Media group,[8] and also looks after lifestyle businesses such as theDomino's Pizza franchise and also convenience store chainMonday to Sunday in Bangalore.[10] In 2013, Shamit Bhartia married Nayantara Kothari, daughter of Bhadrashyam Kothari, aChennai-based industrialist and Nina, daughter ofDhirubhai Ambani.
Bhartia joinedHindustan Times in 1986, as a 29 year old and directly as Chief Executive. She was the first woman chief executive of a national newspaper and probably one of the youngest.[6] She is considered to be one of the motive forces behind the transformation of theHindustan Times "into a bright, young paper."[11] She looks after editorial as well as financial aspects, and is credited with raising ₹400 crore through a public equity launch ofHT Media in September 2005.[12]
She has received theGlobal Leader of Tomorrow award from theWorld Economic Forum (1996). She is also the recipient ofthe Outstanding Business Woman of the Year, 2001, by PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and National Press India Award, 1992. She has also won the Business Woman award, TheEconomic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence awards 2007.[citation needed] She was named one ofForbes Asia's 50 Women in the Mix.[13] She has received the Delhi Women of the Decade Achievers Award 2013 from the ASSOCHAM Ladies League in recognition for her Excellence in Nation Building through Media & Leadership.
Shobhana was one of the firstPadma Shri award nominees in 2005.[14] The award was given for journalism. The following year, in February 2006, Shobhana was nominated to theRajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament, on a recommendation by the rulingUnited Progressive Alliance headed bySonia Gandhi.[15] The nomination, reserved for eminent people from the fields of literature, science, art and social service, was challenged in theSupreme Court of India[16] on the grounds that she was a "media baron" and not a journalist, and that she was politically affiliated with theIndian National Congress. However, the court dismissed the appeal at the admission stage itself, saying that the scope of "social service" was broad enough to include her.[16] She introduced "The Child Marriage (Abolition) and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill, 2006".[17] Among her close friends includedBJP politicianArun Jaitley.[18]