Provide for women’s transition to enterprise: Smriti Irani

Union women and child development minister Smriti Irani has said most venture capital funds are happy to fund start-ups which are owned and operated by men as compared to women. They would rather invest in men failing than women succeeding,” Irani said at the Fortune India Most Powerful Women awards event in Mumbai on Friday, where she also unveiled Fortune India – SPJIMR White Paper, Enhancing Women Leadership In India Inc. Irani stressed women are excelling in all the fields.

“43% of stem graduates in India are women. If you look at the number of women doing PHDs in our country, it has gone up by 99% in the past nine years. 50% of the 43 million in higher education are young ladies.The issue here is how much are we providing for their transition from higher education system to enterprise,” said Irani. The White Paper prepared in collaboration with SPJIMR points out that barely 1.6% of Fortune 500 companies in India have women MDs and CEOs.