From Ambanis to Adanis, India Inc's gen-next leaders join crorepati club

NEW DELHI: 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 $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."