Business & Finance

India’s Nifty 100 Boards Face Aging, Limited Gender Progress and Rising Risk Concerns

By Anjishnu Das

India’s top 100 listed companies are dealing with aging boards, modest gains in gender diversity and an expanding array of financial, operational and geopolitical risks. The Excellence Enablers annual corporate governance survey, released earlier this week, reports that the share of women directors fell slightly in FY26, the average board member age rose, and the number of independent directors under 50 declined. Financial, operational and IT issues were among the most frequently cited risks.

Women’s representation The survey shows that in FY26 women accounted for 49 directors, 144 independent directors and 39 people in key managerial roles. The numbers of women directors and those in key managerial positions fell from 52 and 40 in FY25, while women independent directors rose from 138. In FY23 there were 30 women in key managerial roles, 52 women directors and 137 women independent directors. Women made up 20 % of all directors and 30 % of all independent directors in FY26, compared with 21 % and 29 % in FY25 and 20 % and 28 % in FY23. Of the 100 companies, eight had no women among their independent directors, 53 had one, and 39 had two or more. These figures improved from nine, 52 and 36 in FY25, and from five, 54 and 36 in FY23.

Aging boards The average age of board members rose to 64 in FY26 from 63.5 in FY25 and 63.2 in FY23. Between FY23 and FY26 the number of independent directors under 50 fell from 43 to 25. Those under 50 represented 5.3 % of all independent directors in FY26, down from 6.1 % in FY25 and 8.4 % in FY23. The youngest independent director was 36 in FY23, rising to 39 in FY26.

Risk factors Financial, operational and IT concerns remained among the top three risks for at least 97 companies in FY26, up from at least 92 in FY25 and 83 in FY23. Geopolitical risks were flagged by 52 companies in FY26, up from 25 in FY23 and 41 in FY25. Succession planning gained importance: 55 companies mentioned board succession planning and 83 mentioned senior‑management succession planning in FY26, compared with 52 and 81 in FY25.

Corporate social responsibility and compliance The number of companies reporting unspent CSR funds rose to 36 in FY26 from 29 in FY25 and 21 in FY23. Six POSH complaints were upheld across the 100 companies in FY26. The number of companies reporting 100 % resolution of POSH complaints increased to 38 in FY26 from 31 in FY25. Whistleblower complaints reached 1,129 in FY26, of which 13.4 % were pending resolution by year‑end; the total rose from 303 in FY23 to 1,110 in FY25.