Million Dollar Pay Club in India Grows

With new entrants from energy , automotive, shipping and cement sectors, the sector-wise distribution has changed partially. There has been a turn down of 8 percentage points in the industrial and manufacturing sector, from 48 percent last year to 40 percent this year. Torrent Power and Reliance Industries led by Mukesh Ambani with four executives each made it to the list of Rs 4.5 crore and above compensation. While companies like Hero Motocorp , , Dr Reddy's , J K Lakshmi Cement, Divi's Lab and Shree Cement have three representatives each in the list. 

Larsen & Toubro disclosed total commission of 53.45 crore of all executive directors in its annual report. Amusingly, L&T had seven executive in the million-dollar club last year. K Ramkumar , Head HR, and an Executive Director on the Board of ICICI Bank, the country's largest private sector lender, said, "If promoters charge a premium through a transparent governance structure it is justified as they bear the most risk. However, professionals do bring in a high degree of sustainability to any organization; therefore, companies that can have a blend of both will benefit the most. Indian companies will see that over the next few years as growth happens more and more promoters will have to shed their stakes and that's when more professionals will come to the fore."

Naveen Jindal of Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) has been the top-paid executive for the last two years with an annual income of Rs 74 crore. ISB's Assistant Professor of finance, Krishnamurthy Subramanian said, "Executives drawing milliondollar salaries, in particular the professionals, quite likely represent the cream of the leadership talent in India Inc. Their talent may be even more valuable during bad times than good times. So, it's not surprising that their talents are being well valued, especially in bad times."

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