Indra K Nooyi

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India-born Indra K Nooyi, who replaces Steven Reinemund as PepsiCo Chief Executive Officer, adds another first to her credit. She has become the first Indian American to be ranked as No 2 female CEO in a Fortune 500 company.

With her October 1 appointment, Ms Nooyi, 50, takes her place in an elite group of 11 female CEOs running Fortune 500 companies.

Ms Patricia Woertz at agricultural processor Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM) is at the top. ADM is ranked 56th in the Fortune 500, while Pepsico -- the world's second-largest soft-drink company after Coca-Cola Co -- is ranked 61st.

''I'm very excited and at the same time very humbled,'' Ms Nooyi told analysts during a conference yesterday.

Ms Nooyi said she felt fortunate to be taking over at a time when PepsiCo was in such a strong position, with solid growth across all its business units.

She and Mr Reinemund have worked closely over the last five years, and Ms Nooyi described their relationship as one in which they complete each other's sentences.

Born in Madras (now Chennai), India, and a graduate of the Yale School of Management, Ms Nooyi is a devoted Hindu. She has an elaborate 'puja' room in her Greenwich, Connecticut home and visits Tirupathi regularly to worship Lord Balaji.

She also stays true to her heritage by often wearing a 'sari' to PepsiCo events, according to Forbes.com.

''Being a woman, being foreign-born, you've got to be smarter than anyone else,'' it quotes Ms Nooyi as saying.