Nearly 11.6 Lakh Women Directors associated with Public and Private companies

New Delhi. Nearly 11.6 lakh women directors are currently associated with public and private companies in the country, as govt continues to encourage women participation in decision-making at various levels in enterprises across the spectrum.

While 11,11,040 women are directors in private companies (including OPCs), 46,939 are associated with unlisted public companies and 8,672 with listed public companies, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs, Harsh Malhotra, told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

Category                                   Count of women directors associated

Listed Public companies                                8,672

Unlisted public companies                             46,939

Private companies (including OPCs)             11,11,040

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, has included several provisions in the Companies Act, 2013, to boost the participation of women at top levels in companies, like making it mandatory for prescribed classes of companies to have at least one woman director.

Also, every listed company and every other public company having paid-up share capital of Rs 100 crore or more or having a turnover of Rs 300 crore or more, is required to appoint at least one woman director.

If a company makes default in complying with this provision of the Act, the company and every officer of the company who is in default, is liable for penalty provided under section 172 of the Companies Act, 2013, according to the ministry.

The total number of companies registered during the current fiscal (FY25) stands at 1,12,962 (till November 30).