Promoters who also serve as executives running their companies are known to reward themselves handsomely. But the salaries of chief executives brought in to run the companies are by no means modest. In fact some seasoned hands get paid more than the promoter or the chairman of the company himself, data from annual reports show.
Guenter Butschek and N Chandrasekaran
For instance, the pay package of Daimler veteran Guenter Butschek, who is the Managing Director and CEO of Tata Motors, is the second highest in the non-promoter category in the automotive industry in India. At Rs 19.27 crore (subject to shareholder approval), Butschek’s salary is higher than chairman N Chandrasekaran’s salary.
Chandrasekaran, a non-executive director on the board, received only Rs 4.8 lakh as fees for attending board/committee meetings. As the Chairman of Tata Sons, Chandrasekaran is also on the board of several other Tata Group companies.
Pawan Goenka and Anand Mahindra
Likewise Mahindra & Mahindra Managing Director Pawan Goenka received Rs 10 crore in remuneration in FY20. This was higher than M&M Chairman Anand Mahindra’s pay of Rs 8.71 crore during the same year. The 65-year-old Goenka, who is credited as being the brain behind the Scorpio, M&M’s most recognised SUV, will hang up his boots by the end of FY21.
Vinod Dasari and Siddhartha Lal
Vinod Dasari tops the list of highest paid executives from the non-promoter category in the Indian automotive space. In FY20, the former Managing Director of Ashok Leyland took on the role of steering Royal Enfield, as its Chief Executive Officer.
Dasari, who is also a whole-time director at Eicher Motors, received a remuneration of Rs 24.6 crore for FY20. This was higher than the remuneration received by promoter and Managing Director Siddhartha Lal, who got Rs 19.41 crore during the same year.
Vipin Sondhi and Dheeraj Hinduja
Vipin Sondhi, former Managing Director of JCB India, the leader in the earth-moving segment, was appointed the MD and CEO of Ashok Leyland, India’s biggest manufacturer of buses, in mid-December 2019. His remuneration for 100 days (December to March) amounted to Rs 2.22 crore, which was higher than Chairman Dheeraj Hinduja’s full year remuneration of Rs 1.16 crore. Sondhi was also granted 7.01 million stock options in FY20.
Promoters who are also the lead executives in their companies witnessed a healthy increase in pay during FY20. Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director, Bajaj Auto, saw his remuneration climb 23 percent to nearly Rs 40 crore. Pawan Munjal, Chairman and Managing Director, Hero MotoCorp, saw his pay package rise to nearly Rs 85 crore, an increase of 5 percent during FY20.
Kenichi Ayukawa: A picture of contrast
The remuneration of Maruti Suzuki Managing Director Kenichi Ayukawa stood at Rs 4.66 crore for FY20. This pales in comparison to other executives at the same level in the auto industry, despite Maruti Suzuki’s operations being far bigger than most others.
For instance, Maruti Suzuki clocked revenues of Rs 79,000 crore and a profit of Rs 5,650 crore during FY20. During the same year, Eicher Motors clocked revenue of Rs 9,153 crore and a profit of Rs 1,827 crore.
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