Indian companies discreetly monitor CEOs and key personnel through ongoing background screening, focusing on governance, fraud risk, legal liabilities, and regulatory compliance, with costs ranging from ₹1.5-7 lakh.
Despite gender diversity efforts in India, women are underrepresented in CFO roles. Challenges include bias, retention issues, and supply-side constraints. Companies struggle to retain high-potential women, impacting women s rise to top finance roles.
The situation is worse in the case of the Indian IT industry, with none of the 54 companies in the NSE-1000 index having a female CEO. Market leader TCS, which employs more than 200,000 women (constituting over a third of its workforce), has no women in its key managerial personnel (KMPs), as per its annual report. In fact, among the top 5 IT companies, only Wipro has a woman in a KMP role - it appointed Aparna Iyer as CFO in September last year.
Only 4% of exec directors at Nifty 50 are women, and across NSE-listed cos that figure drops to 3%; enabling policies needed to empower them. There is a persistent and high level of unconscious bias as well. Allyship is key. “Boys clubs still operate that many times do not give women the right kind of projects (that can advance them in their career) thus demotivating many women who see their juniors becoming senior and moving ahead,” said Girotra.
At a time when major Indian companies are driving gender diversity as being good for business, the numbers show a yawning gap across corporate India, with the presence of women leaders at an abysmally low level in the C-suite.