Focus on India - Building Gender Balanced Business

Women are going to become ever more significant as consumers in India and other Bric nations, according to a new report from Goldman Sachs – The Power of the Purse: Gender Equality and Middle-Class Spending. The bank forecasts that the middle classes in the BRIC nations and other emerging countries will more than double by 2030, leading to billions more consumers with expanded purchasing power.

And the same report also demonstrates that women will be an increasing force as they become economically more successful.

So, are India’s top companies ready to take advantage of the “Womenomics” revolution?

With only 15% of women in senior management on average, India is at the bottom of the league table with Japan at 7%, according to a survey from Grant Thornton.

20-first also found in its 2009 WOMENOMICS 101 Survey that in Asia 82% of top companies have no women on their Executive Committees – a core measure of their success or otherwise in gender balancing their organisations.

Now, in a focus on India, 20-first has taken the top ten ET500 Companies and listed the ratio of men and women on their Executive Committees.

We will let readers judge for themselves.

Note on methodology: The data on the balance of male and female executives is based on the information provided on the corporate websites of the companies concerned.