India Inc produced 110 new crorepati CEOs last year. The list of corporate managers drawing an annual compensation package of Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million) and above threw up 266 names in 2005-06.
The list will get longer as information on 111 managers who had received an annual compensation of over Rs 1 crore in 2004-05 is not available yet.
Assuming that there was no drop in their annual compensation package last year, at least 377 professionals earned over Rs 1 crore in 2005-06. In the previous year, the crorepati CEO list featured 267 professionals.
Of the 266 crorepati CEOs studied here, the compensation package of 46 managers has more than doubled, and the remuneration of another 64 has risen between 50 per cent and 100 per cent. One hundred and eight promoter managers received Rs 330 crore (Rs 3.33 billion), and the remaining 158 professional managers received Rs 433 crore (Rs 4.33 billion) in 2005-06.
Collectively, these 266 managers, including professional managers and promoters, took home Rs 763 crore (Rs 7.63 billion) in 2005-06, up 25.6 per cent from the annual payment of Rs 608 crore (Rs 6.08 billion) in 2004-05.
However, CEO compensation as a percentage of net profit remained unchanged at 1.50 per cent for 165 companies.
Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, topped the list with an annual compensation package of Rs 24.51 crore (Rs 245 million) in 2005-06, against Rs 21.70 crore (Rs 217 million) in the previous year. Ambani received Rs 23.43 crore (Rs 234 million) by way of commission, and Rs 1.08 crore (Rs 10.8 million) as salary and perquisites.
Hero Honda chairman Brijmohan Lall Munjal and its managing director Pawan Munjal last year took home Rs 11.80 crore (Rs 118 million) and Rs 11.57 crore (Rs 115.7 million), respectively.
The promoter managers of Mercator Lines also took home hefty pay packets, with Harish Kumar Mittal, CMD, and Atul Agarwal, joint managing director, getting an annual compensation package of Rs 10.07 crore (Rs 100.7 million) each, against Rs 2.88 crore (Rs 28.8 million) each in 2004-05.
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