India’s employment landscape is at a pivotal moment. With agriculture offering limited prospects for sustained job creation, the non-farm sector has become central to meeting the country’s future labour market needs. The Economic Survey 2023–24 estimates that India must create nearly 7.85 million non-farm jobs annually until 2030 to absorb its growing workforce, a target that can be significantly advanced by expanding women’s economic participation. Yet gender disparities remain substantial: despite constituting half the population, women contribute only 18 percent to GDP, and just 42 percent of women aged 15 and above participate in the labour force, largely concentrated in low-productivity informal work with limited pathways for mobility.

In this context, UNDP, in partnership with ACCESS Development Services, convened a Thematic Roundtable in October 2025 on “Unlocking the Potential of the Non-Farm Sector for Women’s Economic Empowerment.” The discussions contributed to shaping a collaborative roadmap aimed at facilitating women’s transition from informal to formal non-farm employment and fostering stronger convergence among key stakeholders to accelerate gender-responsive economic transformation.