More women, better business: Why India’s companies can’t afford to ignore this truth

THE 2025 EDITION OF Fortune India’s Most Powerful Women in Business (MPW) comes at an interesting time. The U.S., under the leadership of President Donald Trump, has recently announced that it would be scrapping investments in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I). Corporate America is retreating from DE&I. Several companies such as Amazon, Meta, and Uber have scrapped their DE&I policies. The DE&I backlash across the Atlantic is on the pretext that it was being incorporated at the expense of meritocracy. The good news is that India Inc.’s commitment to building a diverse, inclusive workforce remains. Indian-run companies as well as multinationals operating in India have reiterated that diverse organisations are good for their business.

“One of our fundamental beliefs is that when women thrive, the world thrives,” says Leena Nair, Global CEO of French luxury fashion brand Chanel. Agrees Nyrika Holkar, executive director, Godrej Enterprises Group. “True meritocracy thrives when diverse talent has equal access to opportunities, support, and the freedom to excel… when we create space for everyone to rise on their merit, we unlock value not just for individuals, but also for business and the community,” she says.

Yet, just 3.2% of leaders of Fortune 1000 India companies are women, according to a Fortune India-S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR) study on Enhancing Women Leadership in India Inc. from 2024. And despite gains made by Indian women over the years, and improved education, India still ranks 129 out of 146 in gender parity according to the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Gender Gap Report. It is estimated that offering equal opportunities to women would have meant adding $770 billion to India’s GDP by 2025.

However, one can’t ignore the growing participation of women in the rural labour force. According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), the rural female labour force participation rate has increased significantly by 23 percentage points to 47.6% between 2017-18 and 2023-24.

Women are changing the way India is run, be it in government, corporate boardrooms and from small-scale industries to tech startups. Change is happening, though gradual. In the Top 25 business schools ranked by Fortune India in 2024, the percentage of women enrolled ranges between 30% and 35%. This is still lower than the 45% in Harvard, but an indicator that things are on the mend.

Indian women are reshaping the economy — increasingly stepping into roles as creators, innovators, and decision-makers across diverse sectors. And the fact that the list has been extended to a 100 this year is a testament to the number of achievers the country can be proud of.

The first woman on our list this year, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, has been an icon. She is the first full-fledged woman finance minister after Indira Gandhi who held the post as additional charge during 1968-70. Sitharaman is also the first person to present eight successive Union Budgets in a row. During Covid-19, she opted for supply-side reforms that helped prepare the Indian economy for long-term expansion.

The Fortune India MPW list includes a diverse set of women that includes politicians, legal luminaries, corporate inheritors, chief executives of global enterprises, young founders of startups and media and entertainment leaders.