Amitabh Kant at Fortune India MPW 2025: India can’t be a $30-trillion economy without women at the helm

“If you don’t raise women’s contribution to India’s GDP from 18% to 50%, we can never be a $30-trillion economy.” Former NITI Aayog CEO and India's G20 Sherpa during its presidency, Amitabh Kant, didn’t mince words as he laid bare the urgency of women-led growth during a compelling fireside chat at Fortune India’s MPW 2025 event in Mumbai.

In conversation with Sourav Majumdar, Editor-in-Chief, Fortune India, Kant reflected on his four-decade-long career in government, the experience of shaping India’s G20 presidency, and why empowering women—through policy, mindset shifts, capital access, and digital literacy—is critical to rewriting India’s growth story.

Talking about the role of women in shaping a ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047, Kant recalled how India sought to shift the G20 narrative from “gender equality” to “women-led development.”

“We wanted to shift the global conversation from gender equality to women-led development. But it wasn’t easy—countries like Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and China opposed the idea because it clashed with their domestic practices. Reaching consensus was ruthless. Let me tell you, getting global agreement on women-led development was even tougher than the Russia-Ukraine issue.”

He cited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for India to become a $30-trillion economy by 2047, arguing that this goal simply isn’t possible without fully integrating women into the workforce. "It's just not possible to do it without women. Out of the 980 million Indians who work, there are about 400 million women, but they contribute only 18% of India's GDP. So if you don't take India's GDP contribution from women, up to 50%, India can never be a $30-trillion-plus economy. It's very important to understand this," asserted Kant.

Highlighting the gender gap in entrepreneurship, Kant pointed to worrying statistics from the MSME sector and the startup landscape. "And only 18% of the startups are done by women in India. So you've got to put a position of leadership in women. They have to become the driver of India's economy… Without that, India can never, never be a $30-trillion-plus economy.”Kant also traced the explosive growth of India’s startup ecosystem, noting that the country has come a long way—with over 150,000 startups and more than 140 unicorns, many led by women.

Kant also spoke about how expanding financial inclusion for women has already begun transforming the economy. "When we finished in 2017, 91% of the women had bank accounts… That’s the financial inclusion bit of it. And therefore, they started driving India's economy with financial inclusion. That, to my mind, is remarkable.”

Equally critical, he said, is the need to change societal attitudes, particularly among men. "The mindset of Indian men is quite sick at times… unless you don't change the mindset, it’s a sick mindset in India. India can grow only when women get into positions of power and authority."

He called on private capital to play a far more proactive role in mentoring and funding women founders. "The PE and venture funds have to do the talk. They have to really ensure that they support, mentor, they handhold many more women entrepreneurs, both startups and MSMEs… The PE funds and VC funds have to up their game now.”

Citing India’s rapid digital transformation powered by Aadhaar and UPI, Kant described the speed and scale of innovation in financial services. “What has happened as a consequence of this UPI and Aadhaar—you did credit, you did wealth creation, you did insurance, all this on the go, anywhere, anytime, within 30 seconds… India achieved in seven years what would have taken 50 years to achieve.”

Kant also traced the explosive growth of the Indian startup ecosystem, saying India has come a long way, with more than 150,000 startups and including over 140 unicorns, many led by women. But, he cautioned, scale must be matched with responsibility. "If you don't do this, you'll find it very difficult to attract PE funds and VC funds.”

He remarked that in his experience, women-led startups show stronger discipline and governance. "...43% of the students getting into STEM education in India are all women." Calling for targeted funding to unlock this potential, he said: "I hope that the new deep tech fund of ₹20,000 crore allocates ₹5,000-6,000 crore only for women. That will drive the change.”

Looking ahead, Kant shared that his post-government innings remain deeply linked to nation-building, albeit outside the bureaucracy. He is now an advisor to the Fairfax Group of Canada, SMBC Bank, and a board member of IndiGo, and actively mentoring several startups. "I’ll be very happy to mentor any dynamic women-led startup… I want to give a lot more time to the startup movement in India.”