Arun Sarin is back in news. This India born CEO of Vodaphone took home a whopping sum of $33 million as salary in the financial year ended March 2007, beating Lakshmi Mittal, the steel tycoon, in terms of annual remuneration as CEO.

In the financial ended March 2007, Vodaphone, the leading mobile player by revenue, gave more than $33 million to Sarin as salary and other benefits in the form of cash, stocks, and options. According to the annual reports of Vodaphone, Sarin’s base salary worked out to be $2.5 million, while his total cash remuneration including incentives and other benefits stood at $6.4 million. In addition to stock options worth $20 million, Sarin was also granted shares worth $7 million under the company’s short term and long-term incentive plans.

Lakshmi Mittal disclosed his base salary as $2.005 million in the annual reports last month. His total cash package stood at $3.68 million other than the base salary disclosed. Last year Mittal was running in the forefront with $2.20 million, and Sarin was close behind with a base salary of US $2.18 million.

The Vodaphone CEO was rewarded this year for successfully executing the Hutchinson-Essar deal in India with a hike of 5,17,000 pounds, an increase of about 19 percent.