Aspirationally, firms should have 50% female directors: Piyush Goyal.

Despite opposing any discrimination practises based solely on gender, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal stated on Monday that businesses should aim for up to 50% female directors on their boards.

“Unless we set ambitious goals, we are not going to achieve much. We should be aspiring for 50% of directors of companies to be women, not by reservation but by their might, by choice. We should also be aspiring for 50% of businesses to be owned by women, through the sheer dint of their capabilities,” Goyal said.

Speaking at a gathering hosted by the Ficci Ladies' Organization, Goyal asserted that discrimination based on gender won't advance the nation. "That will only mean a sarpanch making his wife a sarpanch, or a chief minister making his wife a dummy chief minister, as we have seen in the past," he claimed.

“We should rather have the Sushma Swarajs of the world as role models for women, or Smriti Irani in our times or a finance minister like Nirmala Sitharaman becoming a role model, who didn’t come through reservations but through sheer dint of their hard work, dedication, commitment and capabilities. That’s the women of tomorrow,” Goyal added.