Maninder Cheema, Executive Director at SEBI, joined Sundararaman Ramamurthy, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of BSE, Shaili Chopra, Founder of SheThePeople, and Suhela Khan, Country Programme Manager at UN Women India, during the Ring the Bell for Gender Equality event held at BSE’s International Convention Hall in Mumbai.
Women entrepreneurs, policymakers and industry leaders gathered at the International Convention Hall of BSE in Mumbai for a special event focused on strengthening women’s participation in India’s capital markets and expanding opportunities for women led enterprises.
The event titled Women Empowerment in India through the Capital Market was organised by BSE in collaboration with SheThePeople and UN Women to mark International Women’s Day. The programme brought together representatives from financial institutions, social enterprises and charitable organisations, highlighting the growing role of women entrepreneurs in driving economic and social transformation in India.
A key moment of the event was the annual Ring the Bell for Gender Equality ceremony hosted by BSE as part of a global initiative supported by UN Women, the International Finance Corporation, the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative, the UN Global Compact and the World Federation of Exchanges. Now in its twelfth year, the campaign encourages stock exchanges and financial institutions worldwide to reaffirm their commitment to gender equality. This year’s participants also included MSCI, the European Union and Women in ETFs.
The ceremonial bell was rung by Maninder Cheema, Executive Director at SEBI; Sundararaman Ramamurthy, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of BSE; Kamala K, Chief Regulatory Officer at BSE; Shaili Chopra, Founder of SheThePeople; Suhela Khan, Country Programme Manager at UN Women India; Madhavi Jadhav, Executive Director at MSCI; and Koel Ghosh, Executive Director and Head of India Client Coverage at MSCI.
Speaking on the role of regulatory institutions in strengthening participation in capital markets, Maninder Cheema, Executive Director at SEBI, said, “SEBI remains committed to strengthening women’s participation in India’s capital markets. By improving access, enhancing transparency, and enabling fund raising for SMEs and social enterprises, we aim to create an ecosystem where more women can build, scale, and lead with confidence. Empowering women through market opportunities is essential to India’s economic and social progress.”
Highlighting the exchange’s role in enabling access to capital for emerging businesses, Sundararaman Ramamurthy, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of BSE, said, “Women entrepreneurs are shaping families, societies, enterprises and India’s future at large. Platforms such as BSE SME and SSE are designed to give them visibility, credibility, and access to capital, helping them scale from local to global while creating long term wealth and social impact.”
Suhela Khan, Country Programme Manager for Women’s Economic Empowerment and Officer in Charge at UN Women India Country Office, said, “India’s capital markets are becoming a powerful platform for women led transformation from SMEs scaling for growth to social enterprises driving change through the Bombay Stock Exchange. UN Women commends BSE for creating spaces where women business owners do not just participate in the economy but lead it. Ensuring they have equal access to capital, networks and market opportunity is essential to building a more inclusive and resilient India.”
Shaili Chopra, Founder of SheThePeople and Gytree, said, “Having spent years covering markets and capital flows, I have seen that who is in the boardroom shapes what gets funded, built and scaled. My vision with She Leads India is about ensuring more women are in those boardrooms shaping the next generation of Indian business.”
Discussions during the event focused on two themes. The first explored the rise of women entrepreneurs in India and how access to capital markets can support growth and financial independence for small and medium enterprises. The second examined the role of social giving and how women led initiatives are contributing to social transformation through the Social Stock Exchange.
The event reinforced the message that wider participation of women in entrepreneurship, investment and leadership can strengthen economic growth while building a more inclusive financial ecosystem.
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