India's highest paid CEOs

Mukesh Ambani

Reliance Industries Ltd has given its chief Mukesh Ambani, the country's richest person, a hefty pay hike of about 45 per cent to take his annual remuneration to over Rs 44 crore or ($10 million).

Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, got a total payout of Rs 44.02 crore (Rs 440.2 million) in financial year 2007-08, marking an increase of about Rs 13.5 crore (Rs 135 million) from the previous fiscal.

In fiscal 2006-07, Ambani's annual remuneration had increased to Rs 30.46 crore (Rs 304.6 million), from Rs 24.77 crore (Rs 247.7 million), previously.

However, a large part of Ambani's full-year pay cheque comes in the form of commissions that the company pays to select executives as a ratio of its net profits.

According to the company's annual report being sent to shareholders, Ambani got a salary of Rs 60 lakh (Rs 6 million -- Rs 500,000 per month -- and another Rs 48 lakh (Rs 4.8 million) -- Rs 400,000 per month -- in the name of �perquisites and allowances.�

In addition, he got Rs 18.75 lakh (Rs 1.875 million) under the head of �retiral benefits� and Rs 42.754 crore (Rs 427.54 million) toward commission on net profit, taking his total to Rs 44.021 crore (Rs 440.21 million) for 2007-08.

P R Ramasubrahmaneya Rajha

P R Ramasubrahmaneya Rajha, chairman and managing director of Madras Cement, who had an annual payout of about Rs 24.8 crore (Rs 248 million), is the second highest paid head honcho in India.

Kalanidhi Maran & Kavery Kalanidhi

Sun TV chairman and managing director Kalanidhi Maran and joint managing director Kavery Kalanidhi, whose annual remuneration stood at Rs 23.26 crore (Rs 232.6 million) each in 2006-07, were next in te list of India's highest paid CEOs.

Sunil Bharti Mittal

Bharti Airtel's chairman and managing director Sunil Bharti Mittal ranks fourth with an annual pay packet of close to Rs 15 crore (Rs 150 million).

K Anji Reddy

Dr Reddy's Laboratories executive chairman K Anji Reddy is the fifth highest paid executive in India with an annual compensation package of Rs 14.4 crore (Rs 144 million).

Brijmohan Lal Munjal & Pawan Munjal

Hero Honda's chairman Brijmohan Lal Munjal and the company's managing director and chief executive Pawan Munjal are ranked sixth and seventh with annual salaries of Rs 13.99 crore (Rs 139.9 million) and Rs 13.88 crore (Rs 138.8 million) each.

Naveen Jindal

Jindal Steel's executive vice chairman and managing director Naveen Jindal is in the eighth spot with an annual salary of Rs 13.5 crore (Rs 135 million), followed by Hero Honda's joint managing director Toshiaki Nakagawa (Rs 13.44 crore or Rs 134.4 million), and JSW Steel vice chairman Sajjan Jindal (Rs 13.24 crore or Rs 132.4 million) to complete the list of the top ten highest paid Indian CEOs

A M Naik

A M Naik, MD & CEO, Larsen and Toubro, has an annual pay packet of Rs 5.85 crore (Rs 58.5 million).

Anil Ambani

Anil Ambani does not even figure in the top-100 list with a total remuneration of about Rs 2.42 crore (Rs 24.2 million) from three of his group companies -- Reliance Energy, Reliance Communications and Reliance Natural Resources Ltd.

Anil's package as REL chairman was Rs 2.34 crore (Rs 23.4 million), while as RComm and RNRL chairman he got Rs 4.8 lakh (Rs 480,000) and Rs 3.2 lakh (Rs 320,000), respectively.










Azim Premji

The remuneration of as many as 15 executives stood at more than Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million). These included Cadila Health chairman and managing director Pankaj R Patel (Rs 12.43 crore or Rs 124.3 million); Dr Reddy's managing director and chief operating officer Satish Reddy (Rs 10.87 crore or Rs 108.7 million); Dr Reddy's chief executive officer G V Prasad (Rs 10.87 crore) ; Mercator Lines chairman and managing director Harish Kumar Mittal (Rs 10.07 crore or Rs 100.7 million); and Mercator Lines joint managing director Atul J Agarwal (Rs 10.07 crore).

Other CEOs who draw hefty sums include Rajiv Bajaj, managing director, Bajaj Auto, gets Rs 2.08 crore (Rs 20.8 million); B Muthuraman, managing director, Tata Steel has a compensation package of Rs 2.20 crore (Rs 22 million); K V Kamath, managing director and chief executive, ICICI Bank, gets Rs 2.48 crore (Rs 24.8 million); Aditya Puri, managing director, HDFC Bank, gets Rs 1.28 crore (Rs 12.8 million); Malvinder Singh, chief executive, Ranbaxy gets Rs 2.62 crore (Rs 26.2 million); and Azim Premji, chairman and managing director, Wipro, draws Rs 2.53 crore (Rs 25.3 million) as salary.