Empowering Women For Viksit Bharat 2047

Enabling India's Transformation through a Framework of Women-led Development

- By Vidya Vemireddy & Rumjhum Chatterjee

IN 2023, India’s G20 presidency marked a pivotal shift in the discourse on gender equality, showcasing a paradigm shift from women’s development, where women are viewed as passive recipients of welfare, to women-led development, where they are recognised as active agents of change. This shift aligns with India’s vision of the ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’ mission, which places women at the centre of the development agenda. This initiative is not only a moral imperative but also an economic necessity. As the Indian Prime Minister said during the G20 ministerial conference, “When women prosper, the world prospers, and we must work to remove the barriers that restrict women’s access to markets, global value chains, and affordable finance.”

India’s case for women’s participation in the economy is simple. Women constitute about 48.4 per cent of India’s total population, while their contribution to the country’s GDP is restricted to 17 per cent. A McKinsey (2015) report estimated that bridging the gender gap between men and women in employment could improve India’s GDP by $2.9 trillion by 2025. Additionally, the International Monetary Fund estimated that boosting female labour force participation by 5.8 per cent may boost GDP in emerging economies by 8 per cent after the pandemic. These numbers clearly signal that women are critical economic development and growth architects. India seems to have recognised the truth.