According to the 5th Annual Corporate Governance Survey by Excellence Enablers, India's Nifty 100 companies' boards have seen significant growth in the number of independent and women directors.
The average board size increased to 10.52 members in FY24 from 9.86 in FY21 and 10.48 in FY23, with IDs constituting 50 per cent or more of the board in 81 Nifty 100 companies up from 63 in FY21. The number of women directors rose to 200, with 73.5 per cent being independent. Women are increasingly taking up leadership roles in various committees, including Audit, Nomination, Remuneration, Stakeholders Relationship, Risk Management, and Corporate Social Responsibility.
The initiative led by M Damodaran, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) reports, that India's large listed companies' boardrooms are expanding due to tighter corporate governance standards and increased regulatory compliance. In FY24, 14 per cent of Nifty 100 companies had 14 or more directors, while 61 had between nine and 13 directors, compared to 65 per cent in FY21.
The survey says "With five mandatory board committees, there ought to be enough Board members to ensure that committees are properly constituted, and do not have the same members on almost all committees, with resultant information asymmetry, adversely impacting those who are not on committees."
The survey reveals that larger boards significantly impact board performance and effectiveness. All Nifty 100 companies, except one, comply with Sebi regulations for the top 1,000 and top 2,000 listed entities. Non-executive directors (NEDs) accounted for over half of the board in 99 per cent of Nifty 100 companies in FY24.
