Chennai, September 9th, 2026: Women’s progress into India Inc’s corner offices has stalled. The 11th edition of the Best Companies for Women in India (BCWI) study, released today by Avtar Career Creators Limited, India’s leading workplace culture consulting and inclusion solutions company, in partnership with US-based Seramount, a global workforce and talent solutions firm, finds that women now hold 16.7% of Corporate Executive roles among Best Companies, down from 20% in 2025. The decline at the top comes alongside a broader softening. Overall women’s representation among Best Companies dropped to 34.6% this year, down from 35.7% in 2025, even as Top 10 companies held steadier at 42.8%. After eleven years of steady gains, the data sends a clear message: progress cannot be taken for granted.
A total of 387 companies participated this year, of which 125 made it to the Best Companies list. The participating organizations span a diverse range of industries. Of the Best Companies, 37% are Indian companies and 63% are MNCs.
Here are the Top 10 Avtar & Seramount Best Companies for Women in India for 2026, listed alphabetically:
- Accenture Solutions Private Limited
- AXA XL India Business Services Pvt. Ltd.
- Barclays
- EY
- HDFC Life Insurance Company Limited
- Lear Corporation
- Procter & Gamble India
- Tech Mahindra Limited
- TVS Motor Company Ltd
- Vedanta Oil and Gas Limited
Sector divide widens
Professional Services continues to lead, with women making up 45.6% of its workforce, followed by ITES at 39.8% and the Global Capability Centre (GCC) sector at 38.1%. At the other end, the pharmaceutical sector dropped to 17.3% this year from 24.6% in 2025, while Manufacturing continues to lag at 13.1%. Both sectors signal continued room for intensified inclusion efforts.
Why women leave: Health now outweighs childcare
The study also examined why women and men leave organizations. Attrition rates among Best Companies converge closely for both genders, at 20.4% each. Access to better job opportunities remains the No. 1 reason to quit, cited by 89% of women and 93% of men. Notably, health and wellbeing related challenges emerge as a bigger reason for women to exit than childcare responsibilities (30% vs 28%), a pattern that has now held for a second consecutive year.
Inclusion intent holds firm
Among Best Companies, the share reporting an increase in operating profit due to inclusive practices rose from 70% in 2025 to 79.2% this year, while among the Top 10, it increased from 60% to 80%. This suggests that the business case for inclusion remains strong, even as women’s representation and advancement at the most senior levels lagged this year.
The India story
Among India-headquartered Best Companies, women’s representation stands at 31.4%, notably lower than at US-headquartered (41.1%) and other-foreign-headquartered (39.2%) companies operating in India, with the gap widening further up the ladder, where women hold just 14.2% of Corporate Executive roles versus 18% and 20% respectively. Yet Indian companies show a clear strength in career-break support: 83% have formal second-career hiring programmes, well ahead of US (70%) and other-country (60%) headquartered firms, reflecting a more intense focus on re-onboarding women after career breaks. Within India itself, women’s representation is strongest in South Indian metros: Bengaluru (41.1%), Chennai (39.1%) and Hyderabad (38.9%), while Delhi-NCR lags at just 28.5%, nearly 12 percentage points below the highest-performing city.
Recognizing inclusion in smaller companies:
Avtar & Seramount ‘Best Companies for Women India (BCWI) – Emerging Icons’, now in its third edition, continues to spotlight gender inclusion practice among India’s smaller, emerging companies with fewer than 500 employees.
First-ever Workplace Wellness study: Wellness and inclusion move together
This year, Avtar introduced the Best Companies for Workplace Wellness (BCWW) study in partnership with Seramount—the first of its kind in India to recognise organisations that embed employee wellbeing into everyday culture, spanning psychological safety, manager capability and access to support resources. A total of 116 companies participated in this inaugural cycle.
The findings point to a wellness-mature cohort: 100% of BCWW-recognised companies offer confidential wellness support without requiring manager approval. Top 10 companies extend this support even further across the workforce, reaching contract staff (90%) and frontline and field employees (100%), well beyond the corporate core.
Pairing the new BCWW data with BCWI for the first time reveals an encouraging association between wellness and inclusion outcomes. Companies recognised on both lists show stronger female representation, lower attrition and more robust second career hiring programmes than the broader Best Companies cohort. While this is an early, correlational signal rather than evidence of causation, it suggests that a deliberate focus on employee wellbeing and a deliberate focus on inclusion tend to go hand in hand.
Speaking at the press conference to announce the results, Dr Saundarya Rajesh, Managing Director, Avtar Group, said: “Hearty congratulations to our winning companies, and thank you to every organization that participated. The Avtar & Seramount benchmarking process is a valuable opportunity to look honestly at where we are and where we can do better. This year’s numbers remind us that progress on inclusion isn’t linear. Even as women’s representation slips at the senior-most levels, the underlying commitment from India Inc. remains strong, with companies reporting a stronger link between inclusion and business performance. Our new Workplace Wellness Index offers another encouraging insight: companies that invest deliberately in employee wellbeing are also more likely to show stronger representation and retention. Wellness and inclusion are not separate agendas; they reinforce each other. The task now is to turn that intent into lasting outcomes, especially at the top.”
Subha V. Barry, President, Seramount, added “I am proud of the progress we’ve seen through BCWI and of the commitment organizations have shown to advancing women. As we look beyond 2026, our focus must be on turning strong practices into stronger outcomes: more women advancing, greater mobility, and stronger pipelines of women leaders. There is much to celebrate, and even more we can accomplish together.”
Most Inclusive Companies Index: Generational diversity gains fastest
Avtar also released the 8th edition of its annual Most Inclusive Companies Index (MICI), which spotlights organizational commitment across gender, PwD, LGBTQ+, generational and regional/cultural diversity. Gender focus remains universal at 100%. Focus on generational diversity grew fastest this year, from 86% in 2025 to 92% this year, followed by regional/cultural diversity, up from 77% to 83%. Focus on PwD dropped marginally to 98%, still up dramatically from 58% in 2019, while LGBTQ+ focus eased to 92% from 95% last year. Companies on MICI together employ 14,148 people with disabilities and 3,188 LGBTQ+ employees this year.
ESG study expands, but leadership diversity remains a gap
The 2nd edition of the Best Companies for ESG (BCESG) study, which evaluates environmental stewardship, social responsibility and governance excellence, expanded this year to include a full Best Companies list alongside its Top 10 companies. Energy efficiency remains the leading sustainability strategy (100% of Top 10, 97% of Best Companies), while solar adoption remains steady at 80% among Top 10 companies. Top 10 companies also lead sharply on ESG execution measures such as third-party audits and safety certifications. Leadership diversity, however, remains an area for continued focus: no company, Best or Top 10, reported women or under-represented groups holding more than 60% of leadership positions.
Refer to the Press Report for more details. The 2026 Avtar & Seramount alphabetical listing of Best Companies for Women in India, BCWI-Emerging Icons, Most Inclusive Companies Index, Best Companies for Workplace Wellness and Best Companies in ESG are available on our website – https://www.avtarcc.com/enrich/best-companies-for-women-in-india-bcwi/
About Avtar Career Creators Limited
Avtar Career Creators Limited, founded in 2000 by Dr Saundarya Rajesh, is one of India’s leading workplace culture consulting firms, supporting hundreds of companies in creating diverse and high-performing workplaces. An ISO 20700 certified firm, Avtar is credited with introducing the concepts of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) to Indian corporates. Avtar is also the country’s largest provider of second career opportunities for women, and promotes inclusive hiring through MyAvtar, India’s first job portal for under-represented professionals. As the earliest firm in India to provide end to end inclusion solutions, Avtar’s services span a broad spectrum, including culture diagnostics, inclusion enablement trainings, conferences & events and culture-first hiring solutions. To know more, visit www.avtarcc.com.
About Seramount
Seramount is a global workforce and talent solutions firm that helps leaders turn insight into action. Built on four decades of research, we partner with more than 600 organizations worldwide to align workforce strategy with business priorities. Through advisory services, benchmarking, assessment and strategy, and early talent solutions, we help organizations achieve measurable impact. To know more, visit www.seramount.com.
