Ratan Tata defends TCS top guns' salary package at AGM

MUMBAI: The chairman of the Tata group companies Ratan Tata defended the commissions and compensation paid to the top team of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), at the fifteenth annual general meeting (AGM) of India’s largest software exporter.

In response to shareholder queries on the ET report that TCS directors are among the highest-paid in the Indian IT industry, Mr Tata said: “Our executives need to be adequately compensated. They’ve not had stock options as others have had.”

The margins of the Indian IT industry may come under pressure because of competition from China, Vietnam and Israel. It needs to move up the value chain and do more sophisticated services.



TCS will move up to keep its market share, Mr Tata said. TCS CEO N Chandrasekaran, addressing his first AGM as CEO, said the company had added 127 new clients in 2009-10 and bagged 43 major engagements.

The focus was on key customers and offering multiple level of services, he said. About 25% of the TCS’ revenues during the year came from new services introduced in 2002-03. The company plans to invest in product development in the financial services, government and select areas in the retail sector, he said.

The company’s share of revenues from Europe came down from 30% to 20% because of the slowdown, client issues and crisis affecting the Euro.

“Currency is now stabilising,” he said. On the TCS’ pensions contract in UK, where the UK government has said it will review all mega contracts, Mr Chandrasekaran said, “We are waiting and watching. So far we have not seen any impact.” He also said TCS had won a contract in the Unique ID project.

The IT major also plans to hire around 30,000 employees this fiscal, a top company official said on Friday. The company has 1,60,00 employees and added 16,851 professionals in Q4 of FY10.