THE PAY CHEQUE DEBATE

The pay growth of India Inc.’s top executives and directors was slower in FY19, but six of them took home 1,000 times the median remuneration of their employees.

- RAJIV BHUVA

IN AN IDEAL WORLD, remunerations of leadership teams and employees should show positive correlation. If the CEO’s pay grows, so should the employee’s.

At ₹1,825.8 crore, total remuneration (which includes bonus and stock options wherever applicable) of the top 50 executives at Fortune India 500 companies grew by ₹243 crore or 15.35% in FY19. What about growth in employees’ pay? Just 7.26% in FY19, compared to 10.22% growth recorded in FY18. One may argue there is positive correlation, but what about the difference? There are six executives who earned more than 1,000 times the median remunerations of their respective employees.

Vinod K. Dasari topped the list of the 50 highest paid executives (based on FY19 data). As CEO and managing director of Ashok Leyland (No. 49 on the