The Short Read
- Vedanta has reported a higher women’s participation across industrial and technical roles.
- Women now account for 23% of Vedanta’s workforce, according to company-linked reporting.
- The company is targeting 35% women’s representation across its workforce, with a longer-term ambition of 50%.
- Vedanta reports that women comprise over 35% of its STEM fresher hires. That rises to 45% when you include leadership and management roles.
- The company’s inclusion push covers mining, manufacturing, metals, oil and gas, power and technology.
Vedanta expands women’s presence in core industrial operations
Vedanta reports a rise in women’s participation across its workforce and core industrial functions. That includes mining, manufacturing, metals and plant operations.
According to company-linked industry reporting, women now account for 23% of Vedanta’s workforce. The same report said 13% of women work across core operations, including mines, plants, smelters, refineries and control centres.
The development is significant because women’s participation in metals, mining and heavy manufacturing has historically remained low. These sectors involve technical, operational and site-based roles that were traditionally male-dominated.
Vedanta Operations now includes women across several roles closer to industrial production, technical delivery, and frontline operations, rather than only in enabling or corporate functions.
The company has set a target of 35% women’s representation across its workforce. They have a long-term ambition to reach 50%. In an official statement issued earlier this year, Priya Agarwal Hebbar, Non-Executive Director, Vedanta Ltd., and Chairperson, Hindustan Zinc Ltd., said women comprise 23% of Vedanta’s workforce. She also says that the company aims to increase the number to 35% and ultimately 50%.
Vedanta also states that women now account for over 35% of its hiring of STEM freshers. That number will rise to 45% when you include leadership and management roles. The company has announced a target of over 50% women hiring in STEM roles starting this year.
The company’s official reports highlight several examples of women’s participation in operational roles. These include women miners working underground, women employees working night shifts in mines, all-women aluminium production lines, all-women locomotive crews, and women professionals working in mining, metallurgy, process engineering, environmental sciences, digitalisation and energy systems.
Vedanta associates this progress with greater use of automation, digital operations, real-time monitoring, standard operating procedures and improved safety systems. The company says that these changes are making industrial workplaces more standardised and predictable. They are helping expand women’s access to roles that were previously difficult to open at scale.
Vedanta Aluminium had earlier launched initiatives such as Project Shree Shakti to induct women employees into night shifts at its smelter operations in Jharsuguda, Odisha. It also reports the presence of women in critical roles in smelting, production, firefighting, and locomotive operations.
The company cites policies that aim at retention and career continuity. These include partnerships with women’s engineering colleges, transparent growth pathways, leadership platforms, spouse hiring support, a year-long childcare sabbatical, and a monthly no-questions-asked work-from-home day focused on well-being.
The announcement adds to Vedanta’s wider inclusion messaging around women in mining and manufacturing. Change in Content has previously reported on women’s empowerment and women’s representation at Vedanta. Both of these are part of the company’s ongoing gender diversity narrative.
For India’s core industries, the development points to a larger shift. Women’s representation in mining and manufacturing is no longer limited to office-based functions. The next test will be whether companies can sustain this participation across shifts, locations, safety systems, career progression and leadership pipelines.
Editorial note & Sources
This is a Change in Content Bureau article for the Inclusive Companies section. It is based on Vedanta’s official releases on women’s workforce targets, STEM hiring, and women’s participation in industrial roles, as well as recent industry reporting citing Vedanta’s latest update on women in core operations.
Vedanta’s official release dated 6 March 2026 stated that women represented 23% of the company’s workforce and that Vedanta aimed to increase women’s representation to 35% and ultimately 50%. It also said the #HerAtTheCore campaign was built around the message that “6% isn’t enough and 23% is just the beginning.” (vedantalimited.com)
Vedanta’s official release dated 10 February 2026 said women accounted for over 35% of STEM fresher hiring, rising to 45% when leadership and management roles were included, and that the company was targeting over 50% women hiring in STEM roles starting this year. It also detailed women’s roles in mining, metallurgy, process engineering, environmental sciences, digitalisation and energy systems. (vedantalimited.com)
Vedanta Aluminium’s official release on its Tarakki Ki Taiyaari campaign said women currently comprised 21% of its workforce, with an ambition to reach 30% representation by 2030. It also cited women in smelting, locomotive operations, firefighting, control rooms, mining engineering, digitalisation and automation. (vedantaaluminium.com)
Industry reports on the latest update said that women account for 23% of Vedanta’s workforce and 13% of its core operations, including mines, plants, smelters, refineries, and control centres. (alcircle.com)
