Bigger cheques for bank bosses

The financial year 2005-06, when the retail lending boom peaked, has turned out to be a very remunerative one for the CEOs of ICICI Bank and UTI Bank.

KV Kamath, managing director and CEO of ICICI Bank, saw his remuneration cross the Rs 2-crore mark. Kamath's remuneration, including the basic salary, jumped almost 30 per cent to over Rs 2.47 crore from over Rs 1.91 crore in 2004-05.

PJ Nayak of UTI Bank, too, was rewarded with an about 27 per cent rise in salary in 2005-06. Nayak's remuneration, however, was still below the Rs 1-crore mark.

He would see his salary package going beyond the Rs 1-crore mark in 2006-07 as a resolution has been proposed for shareholders' approval to a hike in his annual basic salary by 42 per cent.

Nayak's remuneration rose to Rs 95 lakh in 2005-06 from Rs 75 lakh a year earlier, but his counterpart at HDFC Bank was not as lucky. HDFC Managing Director Aditya Puri's salary in 2005-06 was Rs 1.3 crore, the same as in 2004-05.

However, he is likely to see an increase in his salary in 2006-07. A resolution has been proposed to increase his basic salary by 25 per cent to Rs 90 lakh per annum from Rs 72 lakh per annum now.

Another private sector bank CEO, Shailendra Bhandari of Centurion Bank, saw his remuneration rise 22 per cent to Rs 1.62 crore in 2005-06, from Rs 1.35 crore in 2004-05.

For ICICI Bank's whole-time directors "" Kamath, Lalita Gupte, Kalpana Morparia, Chanda Kochhar and Nachiker Mor "" the increase in their combined remuneration in 2005-06 was 25.45 per cent. The remuneration paid to the ICICI Bank's top brass in 2005-06 was Rs 7.59 crore, against Rs 6.05 crore in 2004-05.

Gupte, ICICI's joint managing director who retires in October this year, received a total remuneration of over Rs 1.88 crore in 2005-06. Morparia, the bank's second joint managing director, got Rs 1.36 crore.

The bank's deputy managing directors, Kochhar and Mor, received a remuneration of Rs 1.13 crore and Rs 97 lakh, respectively, in 2005-06.