Infosys CEO Salil Parekh took home a pay package of Rs 24.67 crore in FY19

The CEO’s compensation included a fixed salary component of Rs 6.07 crore, variable pay of Rs 10.96 crore and perquisites worth Rs 7.64 crore.

The country’s second-largest IT services firm Infosys’ chief executive officer Salil Parekh took home a pay package of Rs 24.67 crore in the last financial year.

Comparable data on salary for the previous financial year was not available as Parekh joined the firm in January 2018.

According to the company’s annual report, the CEO’s compensation included a fixed salary component of Rs 6.07 crore, variable pay of Rs 10.96 crore and perquisites worth Rs 7.64 crore.

The ratio of Parekh’s salary to median remuneration was 396, which means he was paid 396 times more than the average salary of Infosys’ employees.

Last week, the annual report of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) showed that its CEO Rajesh Gopinathan’s salary rose over 28 per cent to around Rs 16 crore in FY19.

As per the annual report of Infosys, its chief operating officer (COO) U B Pravin Rao drew a total compensation of Rs 9.05 crore, an increase of 10 per cent over the years.

However, the rise was mainly due to exercise of 6,812 restricted stock units (RSUs) worth Rs 0.81 crore, the annual report showed.

While the fixed salary component in Rao’s compensation stood at Rs 4.41 crore, variable payout was Rs 3.83 crore with perquisites at Rs 0.81 crore.

The Bengaluru-headquartered IT firm last week announced that it would allocate 50 million shares to its employees under its new stock incentive plan.

Under this initiative, the company plans to give  its CEO, Salil Parekh  Rs 10 crore worth shares, while its COO, Pravin Rao is proposed to receive Rs 4 crore worth stocks.

With regard to performance of the firm, the management of the IT services company said that it was better-placed to cash in emerging opportunities in the coming years.

“After some years of change, we have seen a year of stability with a steady leadership team, ready to  engage with our clients and ready to drive  our superior delivery capability,” Parekh said.

After a leadership churn, Infosys under Parekh's leadership has improved its performance in the last one and half years.

While the company posted 9 per cent revenue growth in constant currency term in FY19, it has guided for a revenue growth of 7.5-9.5 per cent in the current financial year.

“The transformation was guided by the clear articulation of our strategy, the strong support of  our board, and the continual commitment of the management team to make this  a reality.

"All of this resulted in our market capitalisation increasing by nearly $10 billion,” Parekh added.

Infosys’s Chairman Nandan Nilekani also sounded an optimistic tone about company's future growth.

“Over the past year, we have been working relentlessly to rebuild a more 200,000 plus people organisation to operate with the speed and agility of a startup,” said chairman of Infosys.

“We are reforming root and branch, replacing legacy systems and mindsets, dissolving thick encrusted silos, energising the believers and converting the sceptics."

Photograph: PTI Photo