Ageing leadership, stagnant diversity, financial concerns define India’s top 100 company boards

The share of women and directors under the age of 50 on the boards of the largest companies has seen little change in recent years. Women accounted for 20% of all directors in FY26, down from 21% in FY25, while the average age of directors rose from 63.5 to 64.

India’s top 100 companies are grappling with ageing boards, limited progress on gender diversity and a growing range of financial, operational and geopolitical risks.

The share of women among all directors declined marginally in FY26, while the average age of board members continued to rise and the number of independent directors below 50 fell. Financial, operational and information technology (IT) concerns also featured prominently among the risks flagged by companies. These are among the findings of Excellence Enablers’ annual corporate governance survey, published earlier this week.

Women’s representation

Across the listed companies under Nifty 100, the survey shows that women account for 49 directors, 144 independent directors and 39 people in key managerial roles in FY26. While the number of women directors and those in key managerial positions has dropped from 52 and 40, respectively, in FY25, the number of women independent directors has risen from 138. In FY23, there were 30 women in key managerial roles, 52 women directors and 137 women independent directors.

As a share, women account for 20% of all directors and 30% of all independent directors in FY26. The figures stood at 21% and 29%, respectively, in FY25, amounting to only marginal changes this year. In FY23, the share was 20% among directors and 28% among independent directors.

Of the 100 companies, just eight had no women among their independent directors, while 53 had just one and 39 had two or more. While these figures have improved from nine, 52 and 36, respectively, in FY25, there were five companies without a woman independent director, 54 with just one and 36 with at least two in FY23.

Ageing boards

An age breakdown of the directors shows that the average age of these companies’ board members has risen to 64 in FY26, from 63.5 in FY25 and 63.2 in FY23. Between FY23 and FY26, the number of independent directors aged under 50 continuously dropped from 43 to 25. As a share, those under 50 accounted for 5.3% of all independent directors, down from 6.1% in FY25 and 8.4% in FY23.

Even the youngest directors among these companies are older now. In FY23, the youngest independent director was 36, rising to 39 in FY26.

Risk factors

Financial, operational and IT concerns remained among the biggest risks flagged by these companies in FY26. At least 97 companies rated these among their top three risks, up from at least 92 in FY25 and 83 in FY23. Geopolitical risks, too, have gained prominence, with the number of companies flagging them rising from 25 in FY23 to 41 in FY25 and 52 in FY26.

Succession planning, too, rose in significance for these companies. In FY26, 55 companies referred to succession planning for their boards and 83 for their senior management, up from 52 and 81, respectively, in FY25.

On the corporate social responsibility (CSR) front, the number of companies reporting unspent funds rose to 36 in FY26, from 29 in FY25 and 21 in FY23.

As far as compliance with Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) rules is concerned, six complaints were upheld across the 100 companies in FY26. The number of companies reporting 100% resolution of POSH complaints rose to 38 in FY26, from 31 in FY25.

The number of whistleblower complaints rose to 1,129 in FY26, of which 13.4% were pending resolution by the end of the year. The number of complaints has risen significantly in recent years, from 303 in FY23 to 1,110 in FY25.