Sharayu Daftary

Sharayu Daftary (1933 – May 2025) was an Indian industrialist and a former president of the Indian Merchants' Chamber (IMC), the first elected president of the organization. She was the first woman president of the Automotive Components Manufacturers Association and the first woman to sit in the executive committee of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2004, for her contributions to the Indian industry.

Biography Sharayu Daftary, née Sharayu Hirachand Doshi, was born in 1933, in a rich Mumbai business family to Lalitabai and Lalchand Hirachand, a Padma Shri awardee and the brother of Walchand Hirachand, the founder of Walchand Group and one of the pioneers of Indian industry. She graduated in Economics (BA) from Elphinstone College, Mumbai and married Arvind Gaurishankar Daftary at the age of 19. and has been the managing director of the business ever since. and the first woman to be selected as a member of the executive committee of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). She would preside over the IMC for second time, in 2000. A Jain by birth, she was the president of the Dakshin Bharat Jain Sabha the eldest daughter, Czaee Shah, is a restaurateur, Gauri Pohomal is an entrepreneur and philanthropist and the youngest, Kavita Khanna, is a homemaker and was married to actor Vinod Khanna.

Sharayu Daftary died on May 2025, at the age of 91–92. The International School for Jain Studies (ISJS) issued an obituary tribute in its May 2025 newsletter, describing her death with profound sadness and recognizing her as a pioneering force in Indian industry and a devoted patron of the Jain community.