Sanjiv Puri bats for employee stock option scheme, calls it best option

Puri said, historically, the impact of ESOPS had been to the tune of Rs 300-400 crore

Even as British American Tobacco (BAT) defeated a special resolution by ITC Ltd to offer employee stock option scheme (ESOPS), prompting the latter to come up with employee stock appreciation rights scheme (SARS) instead, Sanjiv Puri, chairman of the cigarettes-to-hotels major said that ESOP was the preferred choice for the company.

He reasoned that SARS impacts the cash position of the company, while ESOPS does not.

"ESOPS is the best way to retain talent. If that isn’t available, then we may look at a cash settled ESAR. In this, the non-cost cash that was there becomes a cash cost," he