The Hindu Business Line : Diversity marks India Inc boards

New Delhi, June 23 India Inc’s top management offers striking diversity in terms of the profile of directors at the helm. For instance, the age difference between the youngest and the oldest persons holding directorship positions on the firms listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange is a gaping 79 years.

An analysis of the board compositions of 2,098 listed companies, collated by a joint BSE-Prime Database initiative, shows that the youngest director, Mr Raunak Rajendra Agarwal, an additional director in N.R. Agarwal Industries Ltd, is aged 19 years while the oldest, at a ripe old 98 years, is Mr Munishwar Nath Sardana, a non-executive director on the board of Sukhjit Starch and Chemicals Ltd.

The average age of the 12,234 directors on the boards of these 2,000-odd firms is a respectable 55 years.

Those on the fringes of the age divide are quite a handful. While 83 individuals are below25 years, there are 1,811 individuals who are above 70 years. Of the 83 who are less than 25 years, 16 (or 19 per cent) hold independent directorship positions, while of the 1,811 individuals who are over 70 years, 755 (or 42 per cent) hold independent directorship positions.

There are, according to the database, a total of 15,292 directorship positions in these companies, giving an average of 7.3 directors per company.

The maximum number of directors in any company is 23 — on the Steel Authority of India board. Of the firms, a total of 273 have less than 5 directors on their boards, while, besides SAIL, there are 8 other companies that have over 15 directors.

Of the 12,234 holding directorship positions in these companies, 9,339 individuals, or over 75 per cent, hold only one directorship each, while a clutch of 26 persons hold 10 or more than 10 directorships in listed companies. Leading the pack is 76-year old solicitor and advocate, Mr Rajendra Ambalal Shah, who holds directorship positions in a record 19 firms.

Representation of women, as in the political sphere, remains a hurdle on the boards of Indian companies. Of the total individuals, only 605 are women (less than 5 per cent), occupying a total of 757 directorships. In terms of companies, a total of 558 companies (nearly 27 per cent) have a woman on their board.

There also seems to be a clear preference among unlisted entities to have directors from listed companies on their boards. The 12,234 individuals also figure on the boards of 21,208 unlisted companies and organisations, according to the database.

More Stories on : Corporate | People

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page