8 out of 10 southern cities score big in top cities for women in India index

Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Coimbatore, and Jaipur have emerged as the top 10 cities for women in India, a report by Avtar Group revealed.

The organisation, dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) solutions, released the second edition of the Top Cities for Women in India (TCWI) index on Thursday. Over 1,200 women across India participated in the survey.

It identified a total of 113 cities for the study based on their role in the economic growth of the country. These cities were divided into two categories—category 1 covered 49 cities with a population of over a million, and category 2 covered 64 cities with less than a million people.

Among category 1, Delhi debuted at eighth position on the list, while Chennai remained a favourite among women as it retained its first position this year.

The survey highlighted that Tiruchirappalli, Vellore, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Shimla, Salem, Erode, Tiruppur, Gurugram and Puducherry—as many as eight cities in south India—were most favoured by women in category 2 cities.

Other key findings:

• Seven cities in Tamil Nadu are among the top cities for women in India across categories.
• Gurugram ranks first in industrial inclusion in the less than a million category.
• About 32% of the women surveyed feel unsafe, and 21% of women feel unsure of their safety, stepping out after 8 pm in their cities.
• Nearly 31% of women feel judged for their choice of attire in their cities, while 30% report mixed experiences.
• Tamil Nadu with Chennai and Coimbatore, and Maharashtra with Mumbai and Pune are the only states with two cities each in the million-plus category that made it to the Top 10 index.

“Vibrant employment opportunities, good quality of life, including educational and healthcare facilities, well-connected transportation networks, and experience of safety are defining attributes of inclusive cities for women,” said Saundarya Rajesh, Founder and President, Avtar Group.

She added, “Avtar’s annual index, Top Cities for Women in India, is a call to create equitable pathways to increase women’s workforce participation in the country. Creating environments where women thrive, lead, and contribute to their fullest potential is crucial in this pursuit.”

Besides its survey, Avtar Group also obtained data from various governmental sources to arrive at a comprehensive City Inclusion Score (CIS), which determines the rankings of the cities based on three pillars—Social Inclusion Score (SIS), Industrial Inclusion Score (IIS), and Citizen Experience Score (CES).

While SIS focuses on the external social environment, the IIS evaluates the extent to which organisations include women in their workforce. The CES was derived from the data collated from women across India through surveys.