New Report Ranks Indian Cities on Women's Workforce Inclusion

By: WE Staff | Thursday, 8 January 2026

• Avtar Group has published the report, Top Cities for Women in India (TCWI) 4th Edition
• The report utilizes a longitudinal inclusivity index to evaluate cities throughout India based on their level of woman inclusiveness

Avtar Group, a top consulting firm for workplace culture in India, has launched the fourth edition of an annual nation-wide study called Top Cities for Women in India (TCWI).

The report offers a longitudinal Inclusivity Index that measures the compatibility of Indian cities for women’s engagement, security, and development in their careers, along with insights into beacon cities and best practices in other cities that can be adopted by others.

The report also offers tools for companies and cities to improve women’s engagement in the workforce and their development in their careers.

The study for 2025 ranks 125 cities in terms of an Overall ‘City Inclusion Score’ (CIS), which is developed by taking together a ‘Social Inclusion Score’ (SIS) and an ‘Industrial Inclusion Score’ (IIS).

The SIS measures factors like livability and security in cities, women’s participation in employment, and empowerment, among others, while IIS measures organizational inclusiveness through measures such as the number of adequate firms for women’s inclusion in employment, supportive industries for women, and projects for women’s career empowerment.

In 2025, the ten leading cities for female workforce participation are, in order of ranking: Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad, and Mumbai; followed respectively by Gurugram, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram, and Coimbatore.

The city of Bengaluru ranks number one overall due to its favorable score on the Community Inclusion Score (CIS) of 53.29, meaning a positive result on both labor empowerment and industry inclusion. Chennai ranks second on the CIS (49.86), reporting the highest score of all cities in India for Social Inclusion regarding Safety, Public Services, Accessibility, Healthcare and Education.

Three cities: Pune, Hyderabad, and Mumbai, earned high marks for the four categories mentioned above. The city of Gurugram ranked higher in 2025, moving up three spots from 2024 to be ranked sixth; achieving higher ranks from the growth of the corporate environment and industry sector.

The cities of Delhi, Gurugram and Noida all received high marks for Industry Inclusion; however, received lower scores for all other categories, illustrating how a growing economy with a poor overall Inclusive Environment leads to the Loss of Progress.

Cases like Thiruvananthapuram, Shimla, and Tiruchirappalli had a good social inclusion aspect but a lesser industrialization depth.

This is an indication of difficulties in economic mobility and job opportunities. Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Pune had a balanced social inclusion component. These cities have a good social and industrial parameter that aids long-term participation. Mumbai had a good industrial inclusion component (IIS 69.00) but a less social inclusion component (SIS 38.44), implying that the constraints are to do with costs and infrastructure despite the ample job opportunities.

According to Dr. Saundarya Rajesh, Managing Director of Avtar Group:

 “The study conducted by TCWI has developed into an instrument of accountability, to call into question whether women can truly thrive in a city,” she said.