PSUs account for nearly half of the companies without women directors on board

As many as 97% of the 2,133 companies listed on the NSE mainboard have at least one woman director on board, but state-owned enterprises lag. Nearly half of the companies without a woman director belong to public sector undertakings (PSUs).According to data from Primeinfobase, of the 57 companies that do not have a woman director, 26 belong to PSUs.
The data also reveals a decline in women’s participation on PSU boards over the years. For instance, in FY18, 67 out of 71 listed PSUs had at least one woman director, translating to 94.4% participation. However, this figure has dropped to 67.1% in March 2025, with only 53 out of 79 listed PSUs having a woman on their board.
On the losing side

As on date	PSUs having at least one woman on board (%)
6-Mar-25	67.10%
31-Mar-24	88.60%
31-Mar-23	89.90%
31-Mar-22	87.00%
31-Mar-21	64.50%
31-Mar-20	79.20%
31-Mar-19	88.20%
31-Mar-18	24.40%

Source: preimeinfobase.com
The requirement to appoint at least one woman director on company boards was introduced in 2014. Since then, overall women’s participation on boards has increased significantly, with the percentage of companies having two or more women directors rising to 48% from 29% over the past five years.Among sectors, healthcare leads in women’s participation, with 23% of board seats held by women. In contrast, the energy sector has the lowest representation, with only 16% of board positions occupied by women.

However, it is important to note that many private sector companies complied with the regulation by appointing women who are relatives or close associates of the promoter, potentially limiting independent decision-making and reinforcing the promoter’s influence on the board.

According to Pranav Haldea, Managing Director, PRIME Database, “the critical need of the hour is to form policies and supportive practices and to make this a part of the board agenda to ensure that women do not have to leave in the middle of their careers for childcare and other caregiving responsibilities.”

Moreover, women remain severely underrepresented in C-suite roles, holding just 5% of top positions—103 out of 2,133 companies, according to Prime Database. Over the last five years, there has been little progress in the number of women appointed as MDs or CEOs.

The requirement to appoint one woman independent director in the top 500 companies by market capitalisation came into effect on April 1, 2019 and for top 1,000 companies on April 1, 2020.