Bengaluru has retained its position as India's most inclusive city for women in 2025, according to the fourth edition of the 'Top Cities for Women in India' study by workplace culture consulting firm Avtar Group. This achievement is more than just a ranking; it represents a fundamental shift in how we evaluate urban development and gender inclusion in India.
The study assessed 125 Indian cities using a City Inclusion Score (CIS), with Bengaluru securing the top spot with a score of 53.29. Following closely are Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad, and Mumbai, forming a constellation of urban centres that are actively working toward creating better opportunities for women professionals.
Understanding the Framework
What makes this study particularly valuable is its comprehensive approach. The index measures cities based on two key pillars: the Social Inclusion Score and the Industrial Inclusion Score. This dual framework recognises a critical truth, that women's success in any city depends not just on safety and basic services, but equally on access to meaningful employment and career growth opportunities.
The Social Inclusion Score measures factors such as safety, healthcare, education, mobility, and overall liveability. Meanwhile, the Industrial Inclusion Score evaluates formal employment access, corporate inclusion practices, skilling opportunities, and women's workforce participation rates. This holistic view moves beyond simplistic metrics to capture the real lived experience of working women.
Bengaluru's Winning Formula
Bengaluru's success stems primarily from its strong industrial inclusion and robust career opportunities. The city's vibrant corporate ecosystem, depth of formal employment, and widespread adoption of diversity and inclusion practices have created an environment where women can not only enter the workforce but also build sustainable, long-term careers.
The city has scored particularly high in skilling and employment for women, infrastructure, and caregiving support—three pillars that are essential for women balancing professional ambitions with family responsibilities.
However, it's worth noting that Chennai excels in social indicators such as safety, public services, and access to health and education, suggesting that different cities bring different strengths to the table. Chennai's leadership in social inclusion demonstrates that creating women-friendly urban spaces requires attention to both workplace opportunities and the broader social infrastructure.
The Regional Picture
Perhaps one of the most significant findings is the regional disparity in inclusion scores. South India recorded the highest average scores across all indices, followed closely by western India. This suggests a more integrated approach in these regions toward strengthening social systems and expanding women's access to education, health, safety, and industrial opportunities.
Central and eastern regions lagged behind, particularly on industrial inclusion, highlighting limited formal employment opportunities for women despite some improvements in social infrastructure. This gap underscores a crucial challenge that improving women's quality of life requires simultaneous progress on multiple fronts.
The presence of five southern cities in the top ten list, with Gurugram being the only northern representative, reveals geographical patterns in how gender inclusion is being prioritized and implemented across India.
The Rise of Tier-2 Cities
An encouraging trend in the 2025 rankings is the increased representation of Tier-2 cities among top performers. This decentralization signals that women-friendly urban ecosystems are no longer the exclusive domain of major metropolitan areas. Smaller cities are recognizing that creating inclusive environments for women isn't just a social imperative, it's an economic necessity that attracts talent and drives growth.
Beyond Rankings: The Real Question
As Dr. Saundarya Rajesh, Founder-President of Avtar Group, aptly puts it, the study asks a simple but profound question: "Can a woman truly thrive in this city?" This framing shifts the conversation from mere access to genuine opportunity.
Creating truly gender-inclusive cities means not just providing safe streets, accessible healthcare, and affordable living which are largely reparatory measures but also competitive avenues for women's economic success and opportunities to thrive as business leaders.
This perspective challenges us to think bigger. It's not enough to simply make cities safe for women; we must make them spaces where women can lead, innovate, and shape the future.
The Path to Viksit Bharat
To realize the vision of a developed India by 2047, Indian women professionals need to succeed on par with men. This equality cannot be achieved through piecemeal reforms. It requires cities that optimize women's strengths, support their ambitions, and remove systemic barriers to their advancement.
The study reveals that cities combining strong social systems with inclusive industries prove most resilient for women's careers. This convergence isn't accidental—it reflects the understanding that professional success and personal wellbeing are intertwined.
A Shared Responsibility
Creating inclusive cities isn't the sole responsibility of any single stakeholder. Governments must craft supportive policies and ensure safety infrastructure. Organizations need to implement genuine diversity and inclusion practices beyond token gestures. Educational institutions must prepare women with relevant skills for emerging industries. Communities must challenge regressive attitudes and create supportive networks.
Most importantly, cities must adopt a broader view of inclusion where one that considers environmental resilience, supportive infrastructure, digital readiness, intergenerational equity, and respect for diverse perspectives. When these elements converge, women don't just survive in cities; they thrive, strengthening local economies and moving the entire nation closer to its development goals.
Looking Ahead
The Bengaluru story offers hope and a roadmap. It demonstrates that when cities prioritize both social infrastructure and industrial inclusion, they create environments where women can build meaningful, sustained careers. The presence of strong corporate ecosystems, coupled with attention to safety, healthcare, education, and mobility, creates a virtuous cycle that attracts more women to the workforce and enables them to remain and advance.
However, the regional disparities and the challenges faced even by top-ranking cities reveal how much work remains. The gap between social and industrial inclusion in various cities suggests that progress is uneven and requires coordinated effort across multiple domains.
As India aspires to become a developed nation by 2047, the status of women in our cities will be a critical measure of our success. Rankings like these serve not just as report cards but as calls to action by reminding policymakers, businesses, and citizens that true development means creating spaces where half our population can fully realize their potential. The question isn't whether we can afford to invest in making our cities more inclusive for women. The question is whether we can afford not to.
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