Tech titans tower over India’s highest-paid CEOs list
NEW DELHI, INDIA — IT leaders once again dominated the highest-paid CEO list in India this year, with seven of the top 10 spots going to tech chiefs.
According to an analysis by The Economic Times, Thierry Delaporte of Wipro took the number one spot, with his salary reaching US$9.84 million in FY2023.
Persistent Systems’ Sandeep Kalra (US$7.44 million), Mphasis’ Nitin Rakesh (US$7.20 million), and Infosys’ Salil Parekh (US$6.72 million) also joined the top five.
The only non-IT company that slipped into the top five is Abhay Bhutada of consumer banking firm Poonawalla Fincorp, landing in second place with a US$9.36 million salary.
According to experts, the outsized salaries reflect the global scale and complexity of India’s IT services giants.
“We have to also account for the fact that many Indian IT services firms are global industry leaders. Hence, given the size, geographical reach, and complexity of businesses, it is natural to have a lot of these CEOs be at the higher end of the pay ranges,” explained Anandorup Ghose of Deloitte India.
Here’s a complete list of the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in India
- Wipro’s Thierry Delaporte – US$9.84 million
- Poonawalla Fincorp’s Abhay Bhutada – US$9.36 million
- Persistent Systems’ Sandeep Kalra – US$7.44 million
- Mphasis’ Nitin Rakesh – US$7.20 million
- Infosys’ Salil Parekh – US$6.72 million
- Hindalco’s Satish Pai – US$4.44 million
- L&T’s SN Subrahmanyan – US$4.32 million
- Coforge’s Sudhir Singh – US$4.08 million
- Tech Mahindra’s CP Gurnani – US$3.60 million
- TCS’ Rajesh Gopinathan and HCL Tech’s C Vijayakumar – US$3.48 million
In contrast, pay packets for the average IT employee in India barely budged over the past decade.
A Business Today study found that entry-level salaries rose just 50% in the past 10 years, from Rs. 3-4 lakh (US$4,800) to Rs. 4.5-6 lakh (US$7,100). During the same period, CEO payouts grew by over 1500%.
IIFL Securities Senior Vice President Rishi Jhunjhunwala said, “[Employees are] the only key cost in IT services, and hence, they should be paid more.”
