Rishi Sunak’s mother-in-law has been awarded a seat in India’s parliament, president Droupadi Murmu announced on Friday.

Sudha Murthy, 73, is the former chairman of the philanthropic arm of Infosys, the global tech firm she co-founded with her husband in 1981. Their daughter, Akshata, married Mr Sunak in 2009.

Prime minister Narendra Modi said he was “delighted” with Mrs Murthy’s nomination to the Rajya Sabha - the upper house.

He said in a social media post that her “contributions to diverse fields including social work, philanthropy and education have been immense and inspiring”.

Most members of India’s upper house are elected but 12 of them, usually high achievers in public life, are nominated to the chamber by the president for a six-year term.

An engineer by training, Mrs Murthy is also a feted author and her foundation is credited with establishing libraries in rural areas.

The government last year awarded her the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian honour, for her philanthropic works. 

Her husband, N.R. Narayana Murthy has an estimated net worth of £3.7 billion, according to Forbes.

In the past he has said he needed to borrow money from his wife to start his firm, now India’s fifth-largest by market valuation.

It is understood Mrs Sunak has a 0.9 per cent stake in the company which was the first Indian firm to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.