Women in India earn 20 per cent lesser than men, although the gap narrowed down by around five percentage points in 2017, a report said on Wednesday.

A Monster.com report revealed that the current gender pay gap in India stands at 20 per cent where men earned a median gross hourly salary of Rs 231, while women earned Rs 184.8.

"The gap has narrowed by about five percentage points from 24.8 per cent in 2016," said the latest Monster Salary Index data.

The index also revealed that gender pay gap in India increases with work experience. Thirty two percent women identified ‘not easily considered for top management roles’ as one of the top challenges.

"While men with 0-2 years of experience earned 7.8 per cent higher median wages than women, men with 6-10 years of experience earned 15.3 per cent more. Men with 11 and more years of experience earned 25 per cent higher median wages than women," a statement said.

This index was complimented with the findings from the second annual survey titled Women of India Inc. also undertaken by Monster.com, it said.

The survey also found that 69% employees of India Inc feel that gender parity needs to be a top priority for their organisations. However, only 10% have a robust gender diversity programme.

And while nearly 44% men say that they can be effective advocates for gender initiative programmes at their workplace, 80% women say many men show support only in private.

Sharing his views on the findings, Abhijeet Mukherjee, CEO, Monster.com - APAC and Gulfs, said: "...As high as 40 per cent women expressed that men fear being judged by their male peers and choose to support gender equality only in private...

"The bright side is that 44 per cent men confirm that they can be effective advocates for gender initiative programs at workplace."

The "Women of India Inc." survey witnessed maximum share of participation from Delhi NCR at 24 per cent, followed by Mumbai (22 per cent) and Bengaluru at 20 per cent. The participation from non-metros was at 36 per cent.