Data reveals that only a small fraction of India’s top listed companies have women in top executive roles, highlighting ongoing gender disparities in corporate India’s leadership pipeline.
India’s top 500 listed companies have only 9 women chief executives and 25 women managing directors, according to data the Ministry of Corporate Affairs placed before the Lok Sabha in response to a question on gender diversity in corporate leadership.
Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Harsh Malhotra told lawmakers that the figures were drawn from filings in the MCA21 database covering the country’s top 500 listed companies by turnover. The same return showed 67 women executive directors, 638 women independent directors and 22 women chief financial officers, underlining that female representation is stronger in board oversight roles than in the most powerful operating posts.
Overall, women make up 860 directors or board members in those companies, a total that includes 18 additional directors, 738 directors, 25 managing directors, 12 nominee directors and 67 whole-time directors. The ministry also said the Companies Act, 2013, does not define the posts of chairperson or chief technology officer, so it does not maintain data on those roles.
The reply said the ministry had not assessed the barriers that women directors face in advancing to senior corporate roles. It also indicated that no fresh policy targets or incentives are under consideration, saying the current statutory framework is sufficient.
Under existing law, every listed company and certain large unlisted public companies must appoint at least one woman director. Any vacancy must be filled within three months or by the next board meeting, whichever is later.
The government said the Registrar of Companies had issued 50 adjudication orders for breaches of women-director rules between 2021-22 and 2025-26, with penalties amounting to Rs 71,01,500. Cases peaked at 19 in 2023-24 before falling to 8 in 2025-26.
The broader gap is also visible in private-sector leadership data. A Primeinfobase report cited by The Economic Times said women hold only 5% of CEO or managing director posts in India’s listed companies, while a separate study reported that women account for about 18% of directorships in the top 500 NSE-listed firms. Together, the figures point to progress on boardroom diversity, but persistent weakness in the pipeline to the top.
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