The rise of women in India’s growth story

This article is authored by Tuhin A Sinha, national spokesperson, BJP and Nagender Parashar, director, Parashar Industries.

As the world marks International Women’s Day, it is also an opportunity to reflect on the policy environments that expand economic opportunity and enable wider participation in enterprise. In recent years, India’s reform driven business ecosystem has begun to open new pathways not only for investors and entrepreneurs, but also for a rapidly growing community of women founders, professionals and business leaders who are shaping the country’s growth story. Policy reform, in this sense, has become a powerful enabler of inclusive economic progress.

Women leadership (Pixabay)

In the evolving architecture of the global economy, nations that succeed are those that combine policy clarity, regulatory stability and entrepreneurial dynamism. Over the past decade, India has steadily moved in that direction. Through a series of structural reforms spanning taxation, finance, trade and regulatory governance, the country has fundamentally reshaped its business environment, creating a more predictable, transparent and investment-ready economy.

The results are increasingly visible. Between 2020–21 and 2025–26, the number of active registered companies in India rose by nearly 27%, increasing from 1.55 lakh to 1.98 lakh companies. Behind these numbers lies a deeper story. India’s reform agenda has begun to translate into institutional confidence, entrepreneurial expansion and sustained business optimism.

Equally telling is the Reserve Bank of India’s Business Expectations Index, which has consistently remained above the neutral benchmark of 100 through FY2024–25 and into FY2025–26. For investors and entrepreneurs alike, this signals something fundamental. There is growing confidence in future demand, employment growth and capital investment.

India’s economic narrative today is no longer only about scale. Increasingly, it is about policy credibility and systemic reform.

One of the defining shifts in India’s reform trajectory has been the movement from control driven regulation to trust based governance.

Through initiatives such as the Jan Vishwas Act, the government has undertaken a large-scale exercise to decriminalise minor business offences. More than 183 provisions across 42 laws have already been decriminalised, with further reforms underway through the Jan Vishwas Amendment Bill. The objective is straightforward. Reduce regulatory friction while strengthening accountability.

Similarly, the Regulatory Compliance Burden initiative has removed over 47,000 redundant compliances across ministries and states. For businesses, particularly MSMEs, this represents a meaningful shift toward a regulatory system that prioritises efficiency over procedural complexity.

In parallel, the Reserve Bank of India’s consolidation of more than 9,000 circulars into 238 Master Directions has brought much needed clarity and accessibility to financial regulations.

These changes signal a broader transformation. India’s regulatory framework is becoming more coherent, transparent and business friendly.

Access to capital has long been a structural challenge for emerging economies. India’s reforms in this domain are gradually addressing that constraint.

Credit guarantee frameworks such as CGTMSE, CGSS and CGSE are enabling collateral free lending to startups, MSMEs and exporters. The expansion of guarantee limits, now up to ₹20 crore for startups, significantly lowers risk for lenders while expanding access for entrepreneurs.

More importantly, India has begun leveraging digital public infrastructure to transform credit assessment itself.

The Credit Assessment Model launched by public sector banks in 2025 uses digitally verifiable financial data to automate loan appraisal for MSMEs. In just eight months, the system has processed more than ₹3.2 lakh crore in loan applications and sanctioned over ₹41,000 crore in credit.

Such technology enabled credit ecosystems are essential for enabling scalable entrepreneurship in a large and diverse economy.

India’s startup landscape has undergone a remarkable transformation.

Under the Startup India initiative, more than 2.16 lakh startups have been formally recognised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade as of February 2026. This places India among the world’s largest startup ecosystems.

Beyond tax incentives and compliance simplification, the initiative has helped build a policy ecosystem that supports innovation, intellectual property creation and venture capital formation.

What distinguishes India’s startup framework is its decentralised reach. Programmes supporting rural entrepreneurship, university research ecosystems and emerging technology ventures are expanding innovation beyond traditional urban clusters.

For global investors, this signals a deeper structural shift. India is not only consuming technology. It is increasingly creating it.

Trade competitiveness today depends as much on logistics efficiency and regulatory predictability as it does on manufacturing capacity.

India’s recent reforms in customs administration are therefore strategically significant.

The proposed Customs Integrated System will create a unified digital platform for cargo processing, while the expansion of artificial intelligence based non-intrusive scanning across ports aims to reduce clearance delays.

Trust based mechanisms such as the Authorised Economic Operator framework and deferred duty payment systems are also being strengthened. Under the Union Budget 2026–27 proposals, the duty deferral period for AEO accredited businesses will increase to 30 days, supporting just in time manufacturing and smoother supply chain operations.

These reforms align India’s trade systems more closely with global best practices while improving predictability for exporters and investors.

No modern business ecosystem can function without a robust framework for managing financial distress and protecting investors.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code has significantly strengthened India’s credit architecture. Since its introduction, nearly 3,865 distressed companies have been resolved or revived, with creditors recovering ₹3.99 lakh crore. This recovery is about 170% of liquidation value.

This has improved lender confidence and reduced systemic risk in the financial system.

Similarly, the proposed Securities Markets Code seeks to consolidate fragmented securities laws into a single coherent framework. The objective is to improve governance, strengthen investor protection and enhance regulatory clarity across capital markets.

Together, these reforms create the institutional foundations necessary for deep and resilient financial markets.

India’s tax reform journey has also moved toward greater simplicity and predictability.

The continued evolution of the GST framework, including rationalised tax slabs and correction of inverted duty structures, has significantly reduced compliance complexity and improved price competitiveness in several sectors.

The impact is visible in the expansion of the tax base. Registered GST taxpayers have grown from about 60 lakh in 2017 to more than 1.6 crore in 2026.

At the same time, the Union Budget 2026–27 has introduced rationalisation under the Minimum Alternate Tax framework, including reduced rates and exemptions for non-resident entities opting for presumptive taxation.

The broader objective is clear. India seeks to create a tax system that is simpler, predictable and aligned with investment growth.

India’s emergence as a global business destination is not the result of a single reform. Rather, it reflects a sustained policy shift across multiple sectors including finance, trade, taxation, labour and regulation.

Labour law consolidation into four modern labour codes, large scale compliance rationalisation, digital trade facilitation and startup-focused policy frameworks together represent one of the most comprehensive reform programmes undertaken by a major emerging economy in recent years.

For investors and entrepreneurs, the message is increasingly clear.

India is not merely improving ease of doing business. It is building a rule-based, technology enabled and trust driven economic ecosystem capable of supporting sustained growth and global integration.

As global supply chains evolve and capital seeks stable reform-oriented destinations, India’s policy transformation positions it not just as a large market but as a credible, competitive and future-ready economic powerhouse.

This article is authored by Tuhin A Sinha, national spokesperson, BJP and Nagender Parashar, director, Parashar Industries.