Women-Led Development: The Engine for Viksit Bharat@2047

This edited volume, Women-Led Development: The Engine for Viksit Bharat@2047, brings together interdisciplinary scholarly perspectives to examine how women’s leadership and participation can drive India’s transformation into a developed nation by 2047. The volume positions women not as passive beneficiaries of development but as key architects of economic growth, innovation, governance, and social equity.

The chapters collectively explore women’s contributions across diverse domains, including digital platforms, corporate leadership, STEM research, health data systems, entrepreneurship, urban design, education, skill development, and the care economy. They critically examine persistent structural barriers such as patriarchal norms, unequal access to leadership, digital exclusion, unpaid care burdens, and gaps in policy implementation.

Several contributions highlight how women-led digital platforms, inclusive corporate governance, and entrepreneurial ecosystems can generate multiplier effects on productivity and innovation. Others focus on women’s participation in strategic sectors such as defence, space research, emerging technologies, and urban planning, emphasizing the importance of gender-responsive institutions and policies.

The volume also addresses underexplored dimensions of empowerment, including reproductive autonomy, life-course decision-making, health data justice, and management education reform. Across all chapters, the contributors argue that empowering women through education, skill development, leadership opportunities, and supportive policy frameworks is not merely a social imperative but an economic necessity.

Overall, the book establishes women-led development as the foundational engine for achieving Viksit Bharat@2047, demonstrating that India’s journey toward inclusive and sustainable prosperity depends on women’s full and active participation as leaders, innovators, and nation-builders.