Over 200 Indian CEOs are crorepatis

S Ramadorai, CEO and managing director of Tata Consultancy Services, will more than double his pay packet in 2005-06.

TCS has proposed to raise his salary from Rs 225,000 per month to Rs 500,000 per month with effect from April 1 this year. He will also get incentives up to 200 per cent of his salary and other remuneration like commission, perquisites and allowances.

Ramadorai is not the only CEO who is getting such a raise. Little-known Shree Precoated Steels has proposed to double the basic salaries of its chairman, managing director and directors for 2005-06. Crompton Greaves will increase the salary of its managing director S M Trehan from Rs 400,000 per month to Rs 600,000 per month this year.

While India Inc is proposing to raise the salary of most of its chief executives in 2005-06, the number of CEOs drawing an annual salary of over Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million) has already crossed 200 in 2004-05 compared with 162 in the previous year. The list will look even longer as several large companies, including Reliance Industries, have not yet released their annual reports.

Just five years back, the number of crorepati CEOs was just 41. It swelled to 96 in 2002-03 and 162 in 2003-04. As many as 40 CEOs joined the list in 2004-05.

"When the economy is on a roll, it is only natural for the CEO's salary to grow. Till now, the promoter CEOs were having the cake. The professionals are getting their dues at last. We foresee the trend to continue," says a leading HR consultant.

The gross remuneration of Yash Mahajan, vice-chairman and managing director of Punjab Tractors, rose from Rs 30 lakh  (Rs 3 million) in 2003-4 to Rs 1.26 crore (Rs 12.6 million) in 2004-05. Kaushik Sagar V, business leader with Bayer CropScience, got Rs 1.32 crore (Rs 13.2 million) in 2004-05 against Rs 44 lakh (Rs 4.4 million) in the previous year.

There's more. The basic pay of Jalal Ashwin Dani and Manish Mahendra Choksi, both directors of Asian Paints, has gone up from Rs 156,000 per month in the last financial year to Rs 262,000 in 2005-06.

Sajjan Jindal, vice-chairman and managing director of Jindal Vijayanagar Steel, was rewarded for his efforts to help Jisco turn around and merging Jindal Vijayanagar into it.

Jindal, who had taken home Rs 83 lakh (Rs 8.3 million) in 2003-04 as CMD of Jisco, earned Rs 8.12 crore (Rs 81.2 million) in 2004-05, including commission of Rs 6.81 crore (Rs 68.1 million) as vice-chairman and managing director of the merged entity.

Vivek Paul, who left Wipro last week, took home Rs 7.15 crore (Rs 71.5 million) as vice-chairman of the company last year. Former Ranbaxy Laboratory CEO Davinder Brar earned Rs 4.17 crore (Rs 41.7 million) and A Hieronimus, MD of Motor Industries, took home Rs 3.25 crore (Rs 32.5 million).

Wockhardt promoter Habil Khorakiwala was paid Rs 7.01 crore (Rs 70.1 million) and Blue Dart managing director Clyde Cooper got Rs 9.94 crore (Rs 99.4 million) with one-time retention compensation of Rs 6.80 crore (Rs 68 million).