Average salary of Indian CEOs hits 3-year high of Rs 11.2 cr in FY22

This compensation average includes both, promoter CEOs' salary as well as professional CEOs and also accounts long-term incentives (LTIs)

Indian CEOs in FY22 got an average compensation of Rs 11.2 crore, with median compensation of Rs 7.4 crore, which is the highest in three years, the Economic Times reported. 

According to the 2022 Deloitte India Executive Remuneration Survey, the average compensation of CEOs in FY21 was Rs 9.4 crore (Rs 6.4 crore median), while in FY20, it was Rs 9.8 crore (Rs 6.9 crore median), the report said. 

This compensation average includes salaries of both promoter CEOs as well as professional CEOs. It also accounts for long-term incentives (LTIs). 

The average compensation of professional CEOs in FY22 stood at Rs 10 crore, with a median of Rs 7.4 crore, showed the survey, which covers over 470 firms across IT, ITeS, services, manufacturing, consumer products, life sciences, and financial services sectors.

"Limited and highly sought-after talent pool, the talent that is highly fungible within and even across sectors, and continued gap to global pay levels contribute to the increase in executive pay," said Deloitte partner Anubhav Gupta, quoted ET. 

In terms of the total cost to companies including LTIs, India Inc paid their CEOs 2.7 times more than chief financial officers, 3.7 times more than their business unit heads, and 4.1 times more than chief human resource officers and heads of sales, the survey said.

The survey noted that the average compensation of CEOs was 2.4 times more than that of chief operating officers (COO), adding that the average salary of chief experience officers (CXO) has stayed mostly consistent over the last three years. 

Nearly 84 per cent of short-term incentives (STIs) of CEOs are dependent on company performance, while for CXOs, it was at 50 per cent, the survey stated. It added that about 80 per cent of firms prefer a target-based approach for determining STIs. 

Gupta told ET that for LTIs, stock options continue to be the most prevalent choice, with about 54 per cent of companies using it. He added that the adoption of performance shares has been rising over the last few years, as currently, 16 per cent are using this.