Mukesh Ambani forgoes Rs 24-crore from RIL salary

Mumbai, May 13: Reliance Industries' billionaire chief Mukesh Ambani has kept his annual salary capped at Rs. 15 crore for the fifth year in a row, while foregoing nearly Rs. 24 crore from the remuneration approved for him by shareholders.

Mr Ambani has kept his salary at the country's biggest private sector entity, RIL, unchanged at this level since the fiscal year 2008-09.

"The Chairman and Managing Director's compensation has been set at Rs. 15 crore as against Rs. 38.93 crore that he is eligible as per the shareholders' approval, reflecting his desire to continue to set a personal example for moderation in managerial compensation levels," the company said in its annual report for the year ended March 31, 2013.

Mr Ambani was eligible for a pay package of Rs. 38.93 crore for the last fiscal year, which was higher by Rs. 23.93 crore from the salary actually paid to him.

In the preceding year 2011-12 also, Mr Ambani had foregone Rs. 23.82 crore from the remuneration approved for him by the shareholders.

His remuneration for 2012-13 included Rs. 4.16 crore as base salary, Rs. 60 lakh towards perquisites and allowances, Rs. 89 lakh as retiral benefits and Rs. 9.35 crore as commission.

The decision to cap Mr Ambani's salary at Rs. 15 crore was taken way back in October 2009, amid a raging debate on right-sizing of CEO salaries.

The decision had led to a hefty pay cut for Mr Ambani, as his remuneration dropped to Rs. 15 crore for fiscal year 2008-09, from over Rs. 44 crore in 2007-08 when he was India's top-paid executive.

RIL's total payments towards remuneration of its key managerial personnel also remained unchanged at Rs. 44 crore during 2012-13, after rising in the preceding year to this level from Rs. 41 crore in 2010-11.

Among the top executives, Nikhil Meswani and Hital Meswani were paid Rs. 11 crore each, PMS Prasad got Rs. 5 crore and P K Kapil was given Rs. 2 crore as their remuneration for 2012-13.

RIL's overall staff cost at consolidated level rose considerably to Rs. 5,179 crore in 2012-13, from Rs. 3,955 crore in the preceding year. The number of employees rose marginally from 23,166 to 23,519 during 2012-13.

The company hired 75 management graduates and 436 graduate engineers through campus placements last fiscal year and said that these numbers are likely to increase in the future.

PTI