Parliament Question: Women Directors in Government Owned Companies

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 4975 ANSWERED ON MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2026 Chaitra 02, 1948 (Saka) Women Directors in Government Owned Companies 4975. Dr. Sharmila Sarkar: Will the Minister of CORPORATE AFFAIRS be pleased to state: (a) the total number of directors on the boards of Government owned companies since 2014, gender-wise and year-wise; (b) whether all Government owned companies including Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) have appointed at least one woman director on their boards, if so, the details thereof; (c) if not, the reasons therefor along with the details of such companies that do not have women directors on their boards; and (d) the amount (in Rs.) collected from such companies as penalties since 2014, year-wise? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE OF THE MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS AND MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS. (SHRI. HARSH MALHOTRA) (a) The details of the number of directors on the boards of Government owned companies, gender-wise and year-wise is at Annexure. (b) & (c) As per second proviso to sub-section (1) of section 149 of the Companies Act, 2013 prescribed class of companies shall have at least one woman director. As per Rule 3 of Companies (Appointment and Qualification of Directors) Rules, 2014, every listed company and every other public company having paid up share capital of Rs. 100crore or more or having a turnover of Rs. 300 crore or more is required to appoint at least one woman director on its board. Out of 708 Government owned companies including Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) which are required to appoint at least one woman director on their boards, 529 companies have appointed at least one woman director and 179 companies have not appointed at least one woman director. The non compliance of minimum threshold limit of appointment of woman director are company specific and other administrative reasons. (d) Separate data in respect of penalties collected from Government owned companies is not maintained centrally.Annexure In reply to the Unstarred Question No. 4975 to be answered before Lok Sabha on March 23, 2026: Sl. Number of directors on the boards of No Financial Government owned companies Year Female Male Total 1 2013-14 4 86 90 2 2014-15 11 149 160 3 2015-16 27 174 201 4 2016-17 42 316 358 5 2017-18 53 328 381 6 2018-19 76 457 533 7 2019-20 59 374 433 8 2020-21 81 424 505 9 2021-22 97 699 796 10 2022-23 163 933 1096 11 2023-24 266 1721 1987 12 2024-25 476 2311 2787 13 2025-26 668 3423 4091 (till 13/3/2026) ****