India Inc's gen-next leaders join crorepati club

From Ambanis and Adanis to Premjis and Khorakiwalas, several generation-next leaders of India's leading family-run businesses have joined crorepati club when it comes to their salaries and other perks.

With a number of corporate houses promoting sons and daughters of their promoters to leadership positions, many of these companies have begun giving hefty remuneration packages to them for their "increased responsibilities" and "active involvement" in exploring new business opportunities.

Still, the annual pay of these next-generation leaders remains relatively low, as against the overall average payout of over Rs 20 crore for CEOs of India's top-listed companies forming part of Sensex and only a fraction of the same in the US at close to USD 20 million (about Rs 130 crore).

Gujarati industrialist Gautam Adani's son Karan, who was appointed CEO of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd, did not draw any remuneration from the company for fiscal 2015-16, but the board has approved an annual remuneration for him of up to Rs 1.5 crore, including salary, perks and other benefits, with effect from September 1, 2016.

As Chairman and Managing Director of the company, Gautam Adani got total remuneration of Rs 2.8 crore in 2015-16, while Whole Time Director Malay Mahadevia got Rs 10.7 crore.

In case of Anil Ambani's son Anmol, who was recently appointed as Director on the board of the group's financial services arm Reliance Capital, the company has proposed a salary of Rs 10 lakh per month.

Reliance Capital will seek shareholders' approval on the upcoming AGM on September 27 for various proposals, including Anmol Ambani's appointment as Executive Director for a period of five years as well as for the remuneration to be paid.

In the shareholders' notice, the company said his salary would be Rs 10 lakh per month.

In addition to the salary, perquisites and allowances, he will also be entitled to receive commission based on next profit of the company. Anmol,24, has been working in various financial services businesses within Reliance Capital since 2014 and has a degree from Warwick Business School in the UK.

Salaries of Mukesh Ambani's children -- Akash and Isha -- could not be ascertained, though they are said to be playing key roles in Reliance Industries group's telecom and retail ventures.

Sudarshan Venu, son of TVS Motor's Venu Srinivasan, got annual remuneration of Rs 9.59 crore for 2015-16, while the company last month sought shareholders' approval for revising his remuneration as Joint Managing Director.

Explaining the proposal, the company said in its AGM notice, "The board reviewed the remuneration payable to him after taking into consideration his active involvement in all spheres of management for exploring business opportunities both in India and abroad and felt that, JMD can be compensated by way of enhanced commission.

"The board was of the opinion that the existing remuneration was considerably inadequate, when compared with the industry norms and similarly placed senior management personnel of the company."

As Chairman and MD of TVS Motor, Sudarshan Venu's total remuneration of Rs 13.88 crore in 2015-16, while his package has also been proposed to be revised for the current fiscal.

At IT major Wipro, Azim Premji's son Rishad serves as Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Director and his remuneration for 2015-16 stood at Rs 2.15 crore. The same for his father was Rs 2.17 crore, down from Rs 4.78 crore in the fiscal 2014-15.

Wockhardt has disclosed remuneration of Rs 1.32 crore for 2015-16 to its Chairman Habil Khorakiwala, while the same for his sons Huzaifa (Executive Director) and Murtaza (Managing Director) stood at Rs 1.328 crore each. His daugther Zahabiya Khorakiwala runs Wockhardt Hospitals, but her salary details could not be ascertained.

At another pharma major Cipla, Samina Vaziralli, niece of Chairman Y K Hamied, got total remuneration of Rs 2.47 crore as Executive Director in 2015-16. She was made Executive Director in July last year. She became Executive Vice Chairman with effect from September 1, 2016.

Chairman Y K Hamied said in his message to shareholders, "As we see a transformation to the next generation of the Hamied family, I have no doubt that in Samina Vaziralli we have a trustee who will preserve, inspire and enhance the spirit that we call Cipla."

However, there are also a few generation-next leaders with annual remuneration below Rs 1 crore level.

At Future Consumer Enterprise Ltd, Kishore Biyani's daugther Ashni's total remuneration for 2015-16 as Whole Time Director was Rs 69.09 lakh, which was same in preceding year.

In case of Suzlon Energy, Tulsi Tanti's daughter Nidhi was paid a remuneration of Rs 25 lakh in fiscal 2015-16, up from Rs 12 lakh in 2014-15. In comparison, Tulsi Tanti's total remuneration stood at Rs 1.58 crore for the last fiscal.

At DLF, Chairman K P Singh's remuneration stood at Rs 4.37 crore while that of son and Vice Chairman Rajiv Singh was Rs 4.42 crore in 2015-16.

Pia Singh, daughter of K P Singh, was Rs 29.6 lakh for her role as Whole Time Director till May 20, 2015, after which she became a non-executive director (remuneration of Rs 33 lakh).

In its annual report, DLF has also disclosed as "salary and wages" totalling Rs 1.97 crore for Renuka Talwar, also daughter of K P Singh.