Nestle India CMD Suresh Narayanan drew over Rs 18 crore salary in 2021

Nestle India's CMD Suresh Narayanan, speaks during an interview with Reuters in September 2015. (Image: Reuters/Danish Siddiqui)

The pay package of Suresh Narayanan, chairman and managing director, Nestle India, climbed 9.3 percent to Rs 18.8 crore in 2021 as compared to Rs 17.19 crore in 2020, shows the company’s annual report. Nestle India follows the January-December financial year.

Last year, Narayanan’s pay package had seen a jump of 6.3 percent as compared to Rs 16.17 crore he had drawn in CY19. Narayanan had dethroned Sanjiv Mehta to become the highest-paid FMCG CEO in 2020. Mehta, whose salary stood at Rs 19.42 crore in fiscal 2020, dropped by 21 percent in FY21 to Rs 15.4 crore.

Narayanan’s pay package included salary and allowances, perquisites, company’s contribution to provident fund (PF) and commission and performance-linked incentive. The CMD was paid Rs 9.24 crore under the salary and allowance component, Rs 5.9 crore as perquisites and Rs 3.37 lakh went towards PF contribution. He drew Rs 3.32 crore as commission and performance-linked incentive in 2021.

Other executive directors of the company -- David Steven McDaniel drew Rs 8.07 crore salary last year, while Matthias Christoph Lohner received 7.3 crore. McDaniel is executive director - finance and control and CFO and Lohner is executive director – Technica.

A fair portion of the executive director’s performance-linked incentive is linked to the company’s performance, Nestle India said. The company’s revenue from operations climbed to Rs 14,709 crore in 2021 from Rs 13,350 crore in 2020. Its net profit during the period stood at Rs 2,145 crore, a jump of 3 percent as compared to Rs 2,082 crore in 2020.

Narayanan's salary was 135 times higher than the median salary of Nestle India employees, while McDaniel’s salary was 58 times higher than the median salary of the company’s employees. Lohner’s salary was 52 times higher than the median salary of Nestle India employees. The percentage increase in the median remuneration of employees in the financial year stood at 10.8 percent.

The median percentage increase made in the salaries of employees other than the managerial personnel was 10.8 percent, while the increase in the remuneration of managerial personnel was 2.4 percent.

“These increases are a function of the Company’s market competitiveness within its comparator group as ascertained through the detailed salary benchmarking survey the company undertakes annually. The increase during the year reflects the company’s reward philosophy as well as the results of the benchmarking exercise,” the company said.