Heat represents one of the most urgent yet under-recognised public health threats of our time. Globally, it is the leading cause of weather-related mortality, exacerbating cardiovascular disease, diabetes, asthma, mental health conditions, and maternal health risks (WHO, 2024). As climate change accelerates, both exposure to extreme heat and heat-related deaths are on the rise, especially in Asia which bears nearly half of the global heat mortality burden (Zhao et al., 2021). In India, rising temperatures have led to longer and more intense heatwaves, with heat-related deaths increasing by 34% between 2013 and 2022 (Pandey, 2023). While these health consequences are increasingly well-documented, the gendered dimensions of heat stress remain profoundly understudied and under-responded to. Current frameworks tend to treat women as a homogenous “vulnerable group,” overlooking the ways in which gender, caste, occupation, and poverty intersect to shape risk. Combined with pre-existing burdens such as unpaid care work, lack of sanitation access, and gender-based violence, heat amplifies structural health inequities in ways that are largely invisible to current policy instruments.This study was undertaken against that backdrop. It presents one of the first mixed-methods investigations into the gendered health impacts of heat stress in India, drawing on secondary data analysis, primary surveys, healthcare provider interviews, and national consultations.