Mukesh Ambani forgoes Rs 24 crore paycheque

Billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani has decided to forego Rs 23.75 crore (Rs 237.5 million) for the last fiscal from his annual compensation as chief of Reliance Industries, while keeping his salary capped at Rs. 15 crore (Rs 150 million) for third year in a row.

At the same time, the company's total remuneration for top management personnel, as also commission paid to non-executive directors, declined during fiscal 2010-11.

In its annual report for the fiscal, the company said, "The chairman and managing director's compensation has been set at Rs 15 crore as against Rs 38.75 crore (Rs 387.5 million) that he is elgible as per the shareholders' approval..."

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RIL said the decision was taken to reflect "his desire to continue to set a personal example for moderation in managerial compensation levels".

Ambani's salary has remained at Rs 15 crore since the fiscal 2008-09.

At a time when there was a raging debate on right-sizing of CEO salaries, RIL had announced in October 2009 that Mukesh Ambani would take a pay cut as a result of which his pay package dropped to Rs 15 crore for 2008-09 fiscal from over Rs 44 crore (Rs 440 million) in 2007-08.

Ambani was India's top-paid executive in 2007-08.

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Days before Ambani's decision, then-Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid advised the industry to shun "vulgar" salaries.

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia had also spoken against "indecent" compensation.

At that time, the company had also decided to adopt the capped structure method of working out executive compensation in RIL, instead of pegging it as a percentage of net profit.

In fiscal 2010-11, Mukesh Ambani's pay included Rs 4.16 crore (Rs 41.6 million) as salary, Rs 60 lakh (Rs 6 million) as perquisites and allowances, Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million) as retiral benefits and Rs 9.24 crore (Rs 92.4 million) as commissions.

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While his salary as also perquisites and allowances was unchanged from last fiscal, the retiral benefits fell from Rs 5.6 crore (Rs 56 million) and commission rose from Rs 4.64 crore (Rs 46.4 million) in 2009-10.

Among top management personnel, executive director PMS Prasad's total remuneration rose to Rs 2.37 crore (Rs 23.7 million) in fiscal ended March 31, 2011, from Rs 1.53 crore (Rs 15.3 million) in the previous year.

However, remuneration of each of two other directors, Nikhil Meswani and Hital Meswani, declined to Rs 11.05 crore (Rs 110.4 million), from Rs 11.14 crore (Rs 111.4 million) in previous fiscal.

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The total remuneration for top management during the period fell to Rs 40.67 crore (Rs 406.7 million), from Rs 40.90 crore (Rs 409 million), while commission to non-executive directors declined to Rs 1.68 crore (Rs 16.8 million) from Rs 1.75 crore (Rs 17.4 million).

A non-executive director is paid sitting fee of Rs 20,000 for every board or committee meeting, besides the annual commission of Rs 21 lakh (Rs 2.1 million) a year subject to a cap of 1 per cent of the company's net profit.