India's top 500 listed companies have only nine women chief executive officers and 25 women managing directors, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs told the Lok Sabha, in response to an unstarred question on gender diversity in corporate leadership.
Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Harsh Malhotra, replying to a question from rebel Trinamool Congress MP Saayoni Ghosh, said the figures were based on filings in the MCA21 database for the top 500 listed companies by turnover.
According to the data tabled in Parliament, the companies have 67 women Executive Directors (Whole-Time Directors), 638 women Independent Directors, and 22 women Chief Financial Officers.
Women account for 860 Directors or Board Members overall, a category that includes 18 Additional Directors, 738 Directors, 25 Managing Directors, 12 Nominee Directors and 67 Whole-Time Directors.
The minister noted that the Companies Act, 2013, does not define the position of "Chairperson" or "Chief Technology Officer," and hence the ministry does not maintain data on these categories.
On the broader question of barriers facing women's career progression in the corporate sector, the ministry's response was direct. "No such assessment regarding barriers to progression of Women Directors has been done by this Ministry," Malhotra said.
The reply cited the second proviso to Section 149(1) of the Companies Act, read with Rule 3 of the Companies (Appointment and Qualification of Directors) Rules, 2014, which mandates that every listed company and every unlisted public company with paid-up share capital of Rs 100 crore or more, or turnover of Rs 300 crore or more, appoint at least one woman director.
Any vacancy in this position must be filled within three months or by the next board meeting, whichever is later.
The ministry also said no new policy interventions, targets or incentives are currently under consideration to improve gender diversity in corporate governance, citing its existing statutory framework as sufficient.
On compliance, the government disclosed that the Registrar of Companies had passed 50 adjudication orders for non-compliance with women director norms between 2021-22 and 2025-26, collecting penalties totalling Rs 71,01,500. The number of such cases peaked in 2023-24 at 19, before declining to eight in 2025-26.
Separately, the ministry said 11,60,933 women are currently associated with active companies as directors, out of a total of 39,99,656 directors across the country.
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