A diverse workplace isn’t built on balance sheets. It’s built on breaking barriers. Yet, in India’s corporate boardrooms, women’s leadership often gets reduced to a compliance checkbox. As ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) pressures intensify, the question is clear: Are companies truly empowering women in leadership, or just pink-washing their ESG scorecards?
ESG and the push for diversity
Investors are no longer focusing solely at profit. They want accountability. ESG reporting has become central to how global capital flows. Diversity in leadership, particularly in terms of gender, is now a major ESG metric.
Nearly 11.6 Lakh Women Directors associated with Public and Private companies in India, as mandated by the Companies Act, 2013, for listed firms to have at least one woman director. The rule nudged companies to act. But many stopped there. One woman in the boardroom ticked the ESG box, while absoulte authority remained concentrated elsewhere.
Numbers tell the story
India has made progress, but it’s uneven. According to a 2023 NSE report, women held around 21% of board seats in the top 1,000 listed companies. Better than before, but still behind global peers.
Compare this to Norway, where women’s representation is over 40% due to stricter quotas in 2023. India is moving forward, albeit at a slow pace. And often, appointments are symbolic, with family members or insiders filling the role without influencing strategy.
From Tokenism to Transformation
In India, women are not just filling diversity quotas; they are steering ESG and sustainability agendas at some of the country’s largest corporations. Their leadership shows how inclusion translates into strategy, innovation, and measurable impact.
Take Madhulika Sharma, Chief Sustainability Officer at ITC Limited. With a career spanning sustainability roles at Tata Steel and now ITC, she has led materiality assessments, biodiversity initiatives, and large-scale corporate responsibility programs. Under her guidance, ITC has pushed forward its ambitious carbon, water, and solid waste neutrality goals, making ESG central to business continuity.
Then there’s Deeksha Vats, Group Chief Sustainability Officer at Aditya Birla Group. With over three decades of experience, she has been a driving force in intergrating climate action and resource conservation into one of India’s most diversified conglomerates. Beyond the boardroom, she influences policy and industry conversations, ensuring India’s corporate sector remains aligned with global climate goals.
At Capgemini India, Sarika Naik, Group Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer, blends business acumen with social impact. Her work goes beyond reporting metrics; she has championed digital inclusion, gender diversity, and sustainability programs that directly align with Capgemini’s global strategy.
These women exemplify a shift from representation to real authority. They show that when women hold leadership in ESG and boardroom conversations, companies don’t just comply with regulation, they compete on responsibility, resilience, and long-term value.
For India Inc., the message is clear: gender diversity in leadership isn’t a matter of optics anymore. It’s a competitive advantage in a world where investors, regulators, and consumers are all demanding businesses to prove their purpose.
Why ESG risks pink-washing
The danger lies in companies treating diversity as a tick-box exercise. ESG frameworks reward disclosure but not always depth. A board with one or two women directors can publish glowing ESG reports. Yet, if those women have no voice in capital allocation, climate strategy, or digital governance, what has really changed?
This is where pink-washing creeps in. The performance looks progressive on paper, but in practice, women remain sidelined.
Investors are watching closely
The good news? Investors are catching on. Global funds now ask not just how many women are on boards, but what roles they play. BlackRock and State Street, for example, have made gender diversity a voting issue in board elections.
In India, too, institutional investors are pressing companies to move from symbolic inclusion to meaningful participation. Because diverse boards aren’t just “good optics” they are good business.
Women-led decisions that matter
Research consistently shows that women in leadership improve governance, reduce risk-taking, and bring long-term thinking.
For example:
- A Credit Suisse study found that companies with at least one woman on the board outperformed peers with none, both in share price and return on equity.
- During the pandemic, boards with women leaders showed a stronger focus on employee welfare and digital adaptation critical for survival.
The way forward
So, how can India move from pink-washing to progress? A few steps stand out:
- Go beyond the quota: One woman on the board is not enough. Companies must build pipelines of women leaders across middle and senior management.
- Empower with authority: Women directors need access to key committees: audit, risk, remuneration, where real decisions happen.
- ESG with depth: Regulators and investors should ask not just who is on the board, but how they influence outcomes.
- Celebrate role models: More visibility for women-led business impact can inspire change and silence tokenism.
A quiet revolution in the making
Change won’t happen overnight. But the tide is turning. Younger investors, global funds, and even customers are asking tougher questions about inclusion. Women are entering boardrooms not just as representatives, but as strategists, innovators, and decision-makers.
The challenge is to make sure this is not reduced to optics. Because diversity isn’t an ESG line item. It’s the foundation of resilient, future-ready businesses.
The real question
The question isn’t whether India can put women in its boardrooms. The question is whether those boardrooms will let them lead.
When women’s voices move from the margins to the centre of strategy, India’s ESG journey will no longer risk pink-washing. It will stand as proof that inclusion drives innovation, governance, and long-term value.
