Indian CEOs take 1,200-times more salary than average staff
The rich gets richer, the poor just survives. Recent declarations showed that top executives in the biggest listed blue-chip firms get up to 1,200-times more than what is paid to their average employees. The pay gap is a stark reminder that although India may be progressing at a break neck speed, in some places things have remained at a stand-still. Here's more about it.
Who's taking home the lion's share
According to SEBI regulations, the listed firms need to disclose their remuneration ratios on an annual basis. This makes investors aware of the salary practices of the firms, in which they've invested. This disclosure showed that in the last fiscal, median employee remuneration has remained static or even plummeted. At the same time, the top tier has received astronomical amounts as salary.
It's raining money at the top
Among 30 Sensex firms, 15 reported that they've upped the ratio for their top tier executives. Six of them divulged, that the ratio has decreased, but there are no stark differences. Wipro made it 259 times from 260, Infosys has made it 283 times, Hero MotoCorp went from 755 times to 731 times and Dr Reddy's Lab made it 233 times from 312 times.
There are more revelations left
Nine firms are left in the list, so expect another round of disparity. Reliance Industries didn't share their details but Mukesh Ambani has placed a ceiling of Rs. 15crore on his salary for several years now. The ratio was 205 times higher by 2014-15 standards. In contrast, in public sector companies, chiefs get only 3-4 times more than the median employee remunerations.
Echo of truth
This may be a good time to remind the statement cited by erstwhile RBI governor, Raghuram Rajan. He said that it was hard to get good people in the PSUs because the salary was too low. Recently, the remuneration of SBI Chief Arundhati Bhattacharya also came in the foray. It was a fraction of what private bankers earn. The grievances are more than justified.
