State Bank of India (SBI) chairman Dinesh Khara received a salary of Rs 37 lakh during the fiscal year 2022-2023, an increase of approximately 7.5 percent compared to the previous year, according to the bank’s annual report. SBI is the largest bank in India based on assets.

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Khara's salary consisted of a basic pay of Rs 27 lakh and a dearness allowance of Rs 9.99 lakh. In the previous fiscal year, Khara earned Rs 34.42 lakh in annual salary for the financial year ending 2021-22 (FY22). This was 13.4 percent higher than the salary of his predecessor, Rajnish Kumar, during FY21.

Khara began his career with SBI as a probationary officer in 1984 and assumed the role of bank chairman in October 2020. Prior to that, he served as the managing director of the bank, overseeing global banking and SBI subsidiaries, among other responsibilities.

SBI's managing director, CS Setty, received a salary similar to Khara's in the fiscal year 2023. Setty's salary included a basic pay of Rs 26.3 lakhs and a dearness allowance of Rs 9.7 lakhs. Former MD Ashwani Bhatia, who served until May 31, 2022, earned a salary of Rs 5.7 lakhs.

According to the annual report, other top officials such as S Janakiraman and AK Tewari received Rs 36 lakhs each, while AK Choudhari earned Rs 28.5 lakhs.

How does Khara's salary compares to CEO's of other banks?

Executives at private sector banks receive significantly higher annual compensation compared to those in state-run banks. For perspective, Axis Bank's MD and CEO, Amitabh Chaudhry, was the highest-paid private bank chief in India in the previous financial year, earning a total annual salary of Rs 7.62 crore, as stated in the bank's FY22 annual report.

Chaudhry also received 412,938 stock options of Axis Bank during FY22, approved by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), at a price of Rs 726.25 per share.

Chaudhry was followed by Sumant Kathpalia, the chief of IndusInd Bank, who earned over Rs 7.31 crore in annual salary in FY22. Sandeep Bakhshi, the MD of ICICI Bank, earned Rs 7.05 crore in annual salary last financial year, according to the bank's annual report.

Sashidhar Jagdishan, MD and CEO of HDFC Bank, received Rs 6.51 crore during the previous financial year, while C.S. Ghosh, MD of Bandhan Bank, earned Rs 4.35 crore in annual salary in FY22.

Also read: TCS top brass salary jumps 120% in three years, former CEO Rajesh Gopinathan took home nearly Rs 30 cr in FY23