Top executives across Tata group companies witnessed a broad uptick in remuneration during FY25, driven by rising profitability of the companies they represent, thereby leading to higher payout in the form of commissions, and wider strategic roles across the $150 billion conglomerate.
The trend, captured in the annual disclosures of group companies, reflects the earnings performance and an ongoing recalibration of leadership incentives.
On average, excluding the triple-digit hike in one case, the pay rise is 19.2 per cent for the top-12 executives.
A standout trend was the strong double-digit growth in compensation across several consumer-facing businesses.
Trent Managing Director P Venkatesalu saw his compensation package nearly double to Rs 13.5 crore, while Tata Consumer Products CEO Sunil A D'Souza saw a 28.4 per cent jump in compensation to Rs 13 crore.
Likewise, Indian Hotels' MD Puneet Chhatwal's pay rose 19.2 per cent to Rs 23 crore amid a record year for the hospitality firm.
A huge surge in profits was seen at Tejas Networks, where its MD & CEO Anand Athreya's pay jumped 343 per cent to Rs 16.8 crore.
However, the company clarified that the FY24 figure excluded variable pay.
In contrast, TCS's MD & CEO K Krithivasan received a more measured 4.6 per cent raise to Rs 26.5 crore despite the IT major's position as the largest profit contributor to the group.The raise, however, was in line with the 5.8 per cent rise in the country's largest IT services firm's profit in FY25.Meanwhile, Tata Steel MD TV Narendran saw a marginal 0.9 per cent decline in pay to Rs 17.3 crore -- the only decrease among top executives. This marginal decline in remuneration was despite the company turning around and reporting a profit of Rs 3,421 crore in FY25.
Data shows that executive remuneration growth was closely aligned with sectoral performance.
Consumer, hospitality, and technology-linked businesses saw the steepest hikes, while traditional heavy industries recorded moderation. Notably, several executives also took on larger responsibilities, with Noel Tata's appointment as chairman of Tata Trusts marking a significant leadership shift.
Noel Tata, also chairman of Trent and Voltas, earned Rs 6.1 crore -- a 29.3 per cent rise over FY24 -- in a year that also saw him succeed the late Ratan Tata at Tata Trusts, the principal shareholder of Tata Sons, the group's holding company.
N Chandrasekaran, executive chairman of Tata Sons, remained among the highest-paid executives in the country, with a 15.1 per cent rise in his annual pay to Rs 156 crore.
His remuneration includes compensation from multiple board roles within the group and as commission on Tata Sons' profits.
Sourabh Agrawal, executive director at Tata Sons, also saw his pay rise 7.6 per cent to Rs 32.8 crore in FY25 as he gets ready to spearhead Tata Capital's upcoming $2 billion IPO as its chairman. But Tata Sons, which earns its income from subsidiaries, saw a steep 24.3 per cent fall in profits during the year.
-- Dev Chatterjee, Business Standard