The position of gender diversity in Indian corporate boards

The Companies Act of 2013 has provided top priority to Corporate Governance (CG). Among the various provisionsrelated to CG, the Act mandates appointment of a minimum of one woman director in the Board. The Securities and Exchanges Board of India (SEBI), so as to align with the Act, has revised Clause 49 to add suitable provisions regarding Board composition. Board diversity has also been provided top priority all over the world. However, the position of women Board membership the world over is dismal. The paper analyzed the present position of the women in the Board of Directors of BSE 30 (Bombay Stock Exchange) companies. The main focus was to find out the composition with respect to the inclusion of women before and after the enactment of the new Companies Act. The results of the study show that the status of gender diversity in the Indian Boards is far below the required minimum standards set globally. Certain companies are yet to appoint the required minimum women in the Board, as stipulated by the Act and SEBI. Drastic steps need to be taken to bring in the required diversity in the Indian board rooms.