<p>This paper explores the problem of Gender Digital Divide (GDD) to understand women’s internet usage and skills, and how it impacts India’s progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The study proposes a Gender Digital Inclusion (GDI) framework focusing on socioeconomic sustainability that can be transferable in other developing contexts. The study adopts a multi-method qualitative approach with empirical data collection. A Grounded Theory was applied to 45 in-depth interviews across three semi-urban locations in India, followed by 9 Focus Group Discussions. The demographics of respondents varied between policymakers, community leaders, beneficiaries, and educators. The insights are mapped through Framework Analysis and triangulated through constant comparison to develop the theory of GDI. The findings reveal propositions, explaining women’s digital usage behaviour shaped by financial autonomy, digital literacy, digital safety, community support, and behavioural factors as the major constructs. The study established a thematic framework and further proposes the theory of Gendered Digital Inclusion (GDI) that integrates the emergent constructs with global sustainability agendas. The framework can be theoretically portable to other developing contexts for policy and programme evaluation. The significance of this study is that it applies a convergent multimethod qualitative approach to develop a conceptual framework linking GDD factors to specific SDGs. By establishing the GDI framework, this study offers an actionable theory of change for advancing gender equity in digital spaces and mapping sustainable socioeconomic development. Future comparative studies across other geographies could empirically test and refine these linkages with context-specific modifications.</p>