The combined remuneration for the heads of the Nifty50 companies slid about 25 percent to Rs 1,066 crore in FY23 as technology and promoter-led companies cut down their employee expenses due to the prevailing macroeconomic conditions and muted growth in profitability.

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A Rs 350 crore reduction in overall compensation of Nifty companies, also brought down the average remuneration of chief executive officers (CEOs) to Rs 21.3 crore in FY23, against the record Rs 28.3 crore drawn for the previous fiscal, data compiled from annual reports showed. To be sure, the aggregate net profit of Nifty50 companies rose about seven percent to Rs 6.2 lakh crore in FY23. That compares with over 50 percent increase clocked in FY22.

*Total compensation paid to the CEO/the equivalent

Source: Bloomberg, Company

For instance, the CEO of HCL Tech, C Vijayakumar took home Rs 28.4 crore ($3.46 million) in fiscal 2023, against close to Rs 125 crore earned in the previous year. According to the company’s annual report, the sharp fall in his remuneration was due to the absence of the long-term incentive component, which will be paid next fiscal year.

Similarly, Sajjan Jindal of JSW steel drawn a salary of Rs 51.36 crore in FY23 against last years’ hefty paychecks of Rs 134.80crore. However, the last year’s remuneration for Chairman & MD of JSW Steel also included a profit linked commission to the tune of Rs 121.70 crore.

Further, exclusion of Shree Cement from the Nifty basket also had some bearings. The managing director of Rajasthan based cement company, along with its joint MD, had taken home nearly Rs 79 crore in FY22. In contrast, Adani Enterprises, which replaced Shree Cement in Nifty50 pack paid out less than rupees six crore to its MD, Rjesh Adani during the year .

While information-technology companies like HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Infosys topped the list of companies which cut down their CEOs salary, Larsen & Toubro and Divi's Laboratories also saw reductions to the tune of Rs 26 crore and Rs 40 crore, respectively. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp, Mahindra & Mahindra, ITC and UltraTech Cement saw their CEO's taking higher remunerations than what they earned in FY22.

Also read: CEOs of mid-tier IT firms earned higher than their larger peers in FY23

First Published:Aug 16, 2023 5:03 PM IST