Thirteen of the BSE100 companies, all PSUs, failed to meet the regulatory requirements for board independence in 2025, an IiAS assessment reveals. As of November 30, 2025, there were 1,014 board members across BSE 100 companies, of which 51.5% were held by independent directors, a marginal increase from about 50% on December 31, 2024. Long-tenured independent directors accounted for just 1% of board positions on November 30, 2025, down from 1.5% on December 31, 2024.
Also, while regulation has prompted board refreshment, a subset of companies (most of them outside of the BSE 100) have sought to preserve the status quo by rotating directors across group entities or appointing family members of former independent directors and ex-employees, the report noted.
The number of firms having a separate chairperson and CEO remained unchanged at 60 in 2025; the number had fallen from 68 in 2023 to 60 in 2024— mainly driven by the inclusion of seven PSUs in the index. The distribution of chairperson roles across BSE 100 companies reflects varying degrees of promoter and professional influence, the IIAS report finds.
Companies with independent chairs dropped from 20 in 2023 to 19 in 2025.
Executive chairperson positions are largely held by promoters (25) rather than professionals (15), indicating a continued preference for promoter-led executive leadership. Again, ensuring full attendance at board meetings remains a challenge.
In 2025, only five companies had all their board members present at every meeting, up from two in the previous year. Widely held companies and MNCs have performed better in terms of director attendance.
In a few companies, a set of investors – promoters, strategic investors, or private equity investors – are vested with governance rights that are not commensurate with their economic ownership in the company.
Despite these concerns being voiced by shareholders through their voting, such rights are often approved, as the stakeholders who benefit from them typically participate in voting on the relevant resolutions.
For the second consecutive year there are no companies in the BASIC category (score of less than 50). The report observes that taken together, the changing composition of the BSE 100 and the observed shifts in governance scores reflect a steady improvement in governance practices across the index. Among the leaders are Asian Paints, Axis Bank, Cipla, HDFC Bank, Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Marico (in alphabetical order).