IndiGo gives ESOPs to CEO despite opposition from public shareholders

The proposal was cleared by the company board on March 6 and was voted by the shareholders on March 12. The e-voting ended on April 10.

The promoters of InterGlobe Aviation, which runs India’s largest airline IndiGo, passed a resolution to offer 185,000 employee stock options (ESOPs) to CEO Ronojoy Dutta despite a majority of public shareholders voting against the action.

Dutta has been given 1.85 lakh shares at Rs 765 a share and will get the ESOPs over and above his annual remuneration and bonus, the company told stock exchanges.

Public institutions hold nearly 23 percent of the total shareholding, of which 61.26 percent voted against granting stock options to Dutta. The remaining shareholders belonging to public non-institutions voted in favor of the motion and only 35.75 percent voted against it, disclosures showed.

The proposal was cleared by the company board on March 6 and was voted by the shareholders on March 12. The e-voting ended on April 10.

Dutta has been granted 1.85 lakh shares at Rs 765 per share. He will get the ESOPs over and above his annual remuneration and bonus. In its communication to the exchanges, the airline said the CEO has been paid Rs 8.2 crore till December 31, 2020, as part of his remuneration for the 2021 financial year. This includes a 'committed bonus' of Rs 3.7 crore, the airline said.

In the 2020 financial year, the CEO of the largest airline took home a salary of Rs 17 crore, which included a bonus of Rs 5.6 crore.

In months following the COVID-19 that had created havoc in the aviation sector, IndiGo - like other airlines - had cut the salaries of its employees. Reportedly,  Dutta had taken a cut of 35 percent.