Boards of Nifty 500 companies have grown smaller over time: IiAS report

Shrinkage cuts across MNCs, PSUs, institutionally-controlled firms and widely held ones; Drop in independent directors, largely led by public sector companies, is a key reason

The boards of directors overseeing the Nifty 500 companies have grown smaller in recent years.

There were 4,813 directors totally in 2018, which fell to 4,559 in 2020, according to a May 2021 ‘Indian Boards: Structure And Breadth’ report from the Mumbai-headquartered Institutional Investor Advisory Services. The firm advises investors on governance issues.

The average number of people on the board of a company shows a decline for multinational companies, public sector ones as well as institutionally controlled and widely held companies. The drop in independent directors, largely led by public sector companies, has played a major role. Many are