Kochi: India needs over 26,000 independent directors and around 2,500 women directors to fill the boards of companies across the country, an official said here Friday.
Lt. Gen (Retd) J.S. Ahluwalia, president of the Institute of Directors, said that despite a handful of high profile female Indian entrepreneurs, the proportion of female directors is a meagre 5.2 percent, which is even below the developing world percentage of 7.2 percent.
Ahluwalia’s statement comes at a time when a new act makes it mandatory from this fiscal for all listed companies to have independent directors comprising one-third of their board strength and at least one woman independent director.
“We are conducting training programmes across the nation to equip entrepreneurs and management professionals on skills such as planning, delegating and appraising that matches the present needs of Indian corporates in the international business scenario,” he said.
Ahluwalia pointed out that the standards of corporate governance have changed vastly.
“Mere compliance with statutory provisions alone is no longer an overriding business driver. Factors like transparency, equity, participation, accountability, integrity and corporate social responsibility play an even more important role in the business domains particularly with the advent of the new, knowledge economy,” he said.