Shobhana Bhartia
| Shobhana Bhartia | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1957 |
| Occupation | Business magnate |
| Term | 2006 - 2012 |
| Political party | Congress |
| Parent(s) | KK Birla |
Shobhana Bhartia (born 1957) is the Chairperson and Editorial Director of the Hindustan Times Group, one of India's newspaper and media houses, which she inherited from her father. She has also recently taken charge as the Pro Chancellor of Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (founded by her grandfather) and is the current chairperson of Endeavor India. Closely associated with the Congress party, Shobhana served as a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper chamber of the Indian parliament from 2006 to 2012. Her name is sometimes written Shobhana Bharatiya or Bhartiya, but the preferred spelling is Bhartia. In 2016, she was listed as the 93rd most powerful woman by Forbes
Bhartia is the daughter of the industrialist KK Birla, industrialist and Congress party loyalist, and the grand-daughter of GD Birla, one of the Birla family patriarchs. The KK Birla family owned 75.36 per cent stake in HT Media, valued at Rs 8.34 billion in 2004. She grew up in Kolkata and had her schooling at Loreto House. She is a graduate of Calcutta University, and is married to Shyam Sunder Bhartia, Chairman of the Rs. 14-billion pharmaceutical firm Jubilant LifeScience Limited (a spinoff from the earlier chemicals venture Vam Organics). Shyam Sunder Bhartia is son of Late Mohan Lal Bhartia. Their son Shamit Bhartia is also a Director at the HT Media group, and also looks after lifestyle businesses such as the Domino's Pizza franchise and also convenience store chain Monday to Sunday in Bangalore. In 2012, Shamit Bhartia married Nayantara Kothari, daughter of Bhadrashyam Kothari, a Chennai-based industrialist and Nina, daughter of Dhirubhai Ambani.
When Bhartia joined Hindustan Times in 1986, she did so directly as the chief executive. She was the first woman chief executive of a national newspaper and probably one of the youngest. She is considered to be one of the motive forces behind the transformation of the Hindustan Times "into a bright, young paper." She looks after editorial as well as financial aspects, and is credited with raising Rs. 4 billion through a public equity launch of HT Media in September 2005.
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