National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has revealed that women’s representation in top management and company boards in India has increased but still lags behind the global average.In another study by the World Bank, it has been highlighted that India needs to assign a specific priority sector tag for women-led rural enterprises for easier access to credit.
National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER)
- It is India’s leading independent economic research institute. Founded in 1956, it focuses on practical economic analysis through surveys and data collection.
Priority Sector Lending
- The RBI mandates banks to lend a certain portion of their funds to specified sectors, like agriculture, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), export credit, education, housing, social infrastructure, and renewable energy among others.
- All scheduled commercial banks and foreign banks (with a sizable presence in India) are mandated to set aside 40% of their Adjusted Net Bank Credit (ANDC) for lending to these sectors.
- Regional rural banks, cooperative banks and small finance banks have to allocate 75% of ANDC to PSL.
- The idea behind this is to ensure that adequate institutional credit reaches some of the vulnerable sectors of the economy, which otherwise may not be attractive for banks from the profitability point of view.
Key Findings of the NCAER on Women’s Representation in Indian Corporates
- The share of Women in Top Management Positions increased from nearly 14% in FY14 to about 22% in FY23.
- The share of Women on Company Boards in India increased from around 5% in FY14 to nearly 16% in FY23.
- The share of Women in Middle and Senior Management Roles in India is only 20% with a global average of 33%.
Share of Women Representation in NSE Listed Firms
- Almost 60% of the firms studied, including 5 of the top 10 NSE-listed firms by market capitalization, did not have any women in their top management teams as of March 2023.
- About 10% of the firms had just one woman.
As per the World Bank data, women’s global Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) is slightly above 50%, while men’s is at 80%.Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) is the ratio between the total labour force divided by the total Working-age population. The working age population refers to people aged 15 to 64.Women’s LFPR in India has increased from 23% in 2017 to around 37% in 2023.