Royal Enfield is deepening its commitment to gender diversity by transforming its Cheyyar manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu into an all-women facility, a milestone in the company’s ongoing efforts to build a more inclusive workforce.
B. Govindarajan, CEO of Royal Enfield, shared the update on LinkedIn, reflecting on the company’s progress: “When we began our diversity journey a few years ago, our gender diversity ratio stood at just 5%. Today, we’ve made significant progress. We’re now at 20% across the organisation. This momentum is tangible, and it’s transforming the way we work.”
Highlighting the progress at Cheyyar, he added:
“We’ve built our first all-women assembly line and the energy there is something else — focused, confident, full of pride. And we’re not stopping there. We’re now working towards making Cheyyar Royal Enfield’s first all-women plant, with a 100% female workforce.”
Royal Enfield’s Vallam facility also reflects this shift, now employing the highest number of women across any of its locations, with women making up 26 percent of the workforce there. This move marks a significant milestone in the company’s journey toward a more diverse and inclusive manufacturing environment and sets a strong example for the broader automotive industry. Women are playing an increasingly pivotal role at Royal Enfield across engineering, manufacturing, management, and business functions. In FY25 alone, they made up 24% of the company’s new hires, surpassing its gender diversity target for the year.
Royal Enfield isn’t the first automaker to champion women’s participation on the shop floor. In 2023, Tata Motors set a new benchmark for diversity in India with its TCF-2 (Trim-Chassis-Fitment-2) assembly line in Pune, Maharashtra operated entirely by an all-women workforce. This facility is responsible for producing the popular Harrier and Safari SUVs.