A recent report by Deloitte has revealed that the proportion of women in board rooms of Indian companies is improving but at a snail’s pace, with just 3.6 percent women occupying board chairs.
The Deloitte Global Boardroom Program’s Seventh Edition of the Women in the boardroom: A global perspective report says that the overall percentage stands at 17.1%- with 413 women on the boards in the analysis of 340 companies. While the percentage of women CEOS and CFOS are 4.7% and 3.9 % respectively, the number of women board chairs has dipped by 0.9% since 2018.
The Listed companies and other large public limited companies in India should appoint at least one woman to their boards under the Companies Act of 2013. A vacant board seat previously held by a female director must be filled by another woman within three months of the vacancy or by the company’s next board meeting– whichever is later.
India lags when compared with the global average of 19.7% of board seats held by women, an increase of 2.8 percentage points since 2018. At this rate, there would be something near parity around 2045 – seven years earlier than the findings, according to an earlier report.
Companies with women CEOs have significantly more balanced boards than those led by men—33.5% women vs. 19.4%, respectively.
