Women in India Inc — Only 100 out of 2,000 listed firms have women as MD and CEOs

Last year, Finance Nirmala Sitharaman said that boards cannot continue to be comfortable men's clubs as she batted for more women representation in boards. The Finance Minister said there can be men who are condescending, but there are also many who are not. "I wouldn't be standing in front of you if the tough world made it impossible for women to succeed," she had said.

Last month, panellists at the World Economic Forum in Davos also agreed that in order to get more women at the table women, it is important to get more men on their side. Union Minister Smriti Irani, who was one of the speakers on the panel, said if men are at the helm of this partnership, things change.

She had also spoken about how over the years it has come to the fore, that more women are turning to entrepreneurship.

Giving the examples of the Mudra loans and Standup India programme, she said there nowhere was it mentioned that it was only for women. "What surprised the people in the fiscal world was that 70 percent of the 320 million (Mudra) loans given out were taken by women. Which means, many recognised that at the entry-level of an enterprise, there is a female talent, which by that time was appearing to be unrecognised," she said, adding that the case was similar for the Standup India programme as well.