Reliance Industries head Mukesh Ambani keeps salary capped at Rs 15 cr for seventh year

New Delhi: Reliance Industries’ chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani kept his annual salary capped at Rs 15 crore for the seventh year in a row even as the remuneration of most directors declined marginally.[caption id=“attachment_1998731” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reliance Industries’ chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani. reuters[/caption] Ambani, the richest Indian, has kept salary, perquisites and allowances and commission at Rs 15 crore since 2008-09, foregoing almost Rs 24 crore per annum. “The Chairman and Managing Director’s compensation has been set at Rs 15 crore as against Rs 38.86 crore as approved, reflecting his desire to continue to set a personal example for moderation in managerial compensation levels,” RIL said in its annual report for the financial year ended 31 March 2015. His remuneration for 2013-14 included Rs 4.16 crore as salary, perquisites and allowances of Rs 60 lakh, retirement benefits of Rs 83 lakh and Rs 9.41 crore as commission on profit. In the previous year, while his salary and perquisites and allowances were the same, he got commission of Rs 9.42 crore and Rs 82 lakh in retirement benefits. Ambani voluntarily capped his compensation at Rs 15 crore in October 2009 amid a debate over right-sizing of CEO salaries. Also, his key executives, including executive director PMS Prasad saw his remuneration remain unchanged at Rs 6.03 crore. Refinery chief Pawan Kumar Kapil saw his compensation dip marginally to Rs 2.41 crore in 2014-15 as compared to Rs 2.49 crore previously. Ambani’s cousins Nikhil R Meswani and Hital R Meswani saw their compensation dip marginally to Rs 12.03 crore from Rs 12.12 crore a year ago. RIL’s non-executive directors also got up to Rs 1 crore each as commission, besides sitting fees ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 36 lakh. Ambani’s wife Nita Ambani, who is a non-executive director on the company’s board, earned Rs 5 lakh sitting fee and a commission of Rs 78.64 lakh, according to the annual report. The criteria and the entitlement for performance-linked incentives for the two executives are determined by the Human Resources, Nomination and Remuneration Committee, RIL said. Apart from Ambani, the RIL board has Meswani brothers, his wife Nita Ambani, Prasad, Kapil and company founder Dhirubhai Ambani’s brother Ramniklal H Ambani. Its independent directors include Dharam Vir Kapur, Dipak C Jain, Mansingh L Bhakta, Yogendra P Trivedi, Mahesh P Modi, Ashok Misra, Raghunath A Mashelkar and Adil Zainulbhai. (Disclosure: Firstpost is part of Network18 Media & Investment Limited which is owned by Reliance Industries Limited.) PTI