Bengaluru Named Best Indian City for Women
Chennai and Pune follow in national index measuring safety, social support and workplace inclusion in 125 cities.
- Bengaluru tops 2025 City Inclusion Index for women
- Chennai ranks first on social inclusion parameters
- Pune and Hyderabad show balanced gender inclusion
- Southern and western cities dominate top rankings
GG News Bureau
Bengaluru, 8th Jan: Bengaluru has emerged as the best city for women in India in 2025, according to a new City Inclusion Index released by Chennai-based workplace inclusion firm Avtar. The study evaluated 125 Indian cities on how effectively they support women through social infrastructure and industrial inclusion.
Bengaluru topped the rankings with a City Inclusion Score (CIS) of 53.29, followed by Chennai at 49.86 and Pune at 46.27. Hyderabad (46.04) and Mumbai (44.49) completed the top five, reinforcing the dominance of southern and western metropolitan regions in creating women-friendly urban ecosystems.
The index is built on two pillars — the Social Inclusion Score (SIS), which measures parameters such as safety, health, education, mobility and liveability, and the Industrial Inclusion Score (IIS), which tracks formal employment opportunities, corporate inclusion practices, skilling initiatives and women’s workforce participation.
While Chennai ranked first on social inclusion owing to stronger safety mechanisms, public services and access to education and healthcare, Bengaluru led the industrial inclusion pillar. Its mature corporate ecosystem, high concentration of formal jobs and widespread adoption of diversity and inclusion practices contributed to its top position.
Pune and Hyderabad displayed relatively balanced performance across both social and industrial parameters, suggesting better long-term prospects for sustained female workforce participation.
Regionally, South India recorded the highest averages across all indices, followed closely by western India. Central and eastern India, however, lagged on industrial inclusion, reflecting limited formal employment avenues for women despite gradual improvements in social infrastructure.
The report also identified cities that combine strong social systems with inclusive industries as the most resilient environments for women’s careers. The top ten cities in the index are Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Gurugram, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram and Coimbatore.
