Godrej Agrovet Launches Women's Career Accelerator Program

By: WE Staff | Wednesday, 22 April 2026

• Disha’ Launched by Godrej Agrovet for Creating Industry-Ready Women Talent
• Seeks to address lack of gender diversity in agribusiness workforce
• Trained over 276 women; Placed 33 percent

At its third annual Women in Agriculture Summit, Godrej Agrovet Limited introduced their Women’s Career Accelerator Programme called Disha, and are further demonstrating their long-term commitment to being a part of the building of an inclusive agri-talent ecosystem for the future.

India is going through a transformation of the agriculture business with productivity leadership to become more sustainable along with creating increased rural incomes as national priorities. Women comprise 60-80 percent of the agricultural labour force and have been reported by research to make up 30-50 percent of all agribusiness educational institutes' student population; however, only 6-10 percent of women hold jobs in agribusiness companies, and women are less than 13 percent of the leadership positions in the agribusiness sector in India. Therefore, the challenge is not participation; the challenge is transition.

Sunil Kataria, MD & CEO, Godrej Agrovet, said, "India's agri and allied sectors are at a pivotal point, with ambitions to drive sustainable growth, productivity and rural prosperity. Nurturing industry ready talent will be central to this potential. Through Disha, we are strengthening the pipeline of skilled women professionals, well prepared to take on meaningful roles and support a sector on which nearly 50 percent of our country's population depends."

Godrej Agrovet has developed the Disha Programme as a CSR initiative aimed at empowering women pursuing a degree in agriculture and its related fields. The Disha Programme is focused on helping female graduates succeed in their transition to the agricultural workforce by providing students with industry-specific skills, such as sales, communication, professional readiness and confidence building. The goal of this programme is to prepare students for successful careers in agriculture through a defined framework of campus-to-corporate transitional development.

"Since its pilot phase across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka, Disha has engaged over 276 women students, with several participants progressing into industry roles at various organisations including Hindustan Coca-Cola, GRB Dairy Foods, Jubilant Foodworks and more," addedSunil Kataria.

Pakzan Dastoor, Head - Sustainability & CSR, Godrej Industries Group,said, "At Godrej Industries Group, inclusion is central to how we build and grow. Disha is a reflection of this commitment - enabling women to transition into formal agri-industry and access meaningful employment opportunities. This pilot underscores the power of partnerships, and we are proud to see over 33 percent women already placed across agri-industry roles, with many more to follow."

In increasing women’s engagement within the company’s value chain, the organization has employed a planned and coordinated method. Women’s percentage within the company increased from eight percent to 15 percent over the last two years, indicating that the organization has moved beyond merely having the intention of doing something to actually having quantifiable measures.

Godrej Agrovet CHRO, Mallika Mutreja, said,  "Building a strong and inclusive workforce requires sustained investment across the talent lifecycle. At Godrej Agrovet, we enable women from early-career entry through to leadership progression. Initiatives like Disha alongside our broader hiring and development programmes, reflect our commitment to creating a meaningful career pathway and building a resilient, future-ready workforce.”

The launch of Disha also advances Godrej Agrovet's broader commitment to nurture 1 lakh women across the agri-sector for improved employment opportunities and economic upliftment. To date, the company has reached 63.3k women through skilling, scholarships, early-career programmes, and leadership initiatives.

This integrated strategy incorporates various programs, including WINGS provides early career exposure opportunities, Women in Sales and Manufacturing Circles for peer mentoring/learning and retention of female employees, and RISE program, which develops leadership skills to help advance women into senior positions.