CEO Salil Parekh to Get Less Salary Than Vishal Sikka at Infosys

Salil Parekh, the new Infosys chief executive officer (CEO), will get a salary package much lower than what his predecessor Vishal Sikka received. Parekh will earn up to Rs 16.25 crore in cash every year, which includes a fixed salary of Rs 6.50 crore and a variable pay of up to Rs 9.75 crore, according to filings made by the company with the Bombay Stock Exchange on Jan. 3.

Parekh would also receive Rs 3.25 crore in restricted stock units and Rs 13 crores in annual performance equity grants. He stands to make Rs 17.30 crore for the first year ending March 2019. The amount could go up to Rs 35.25 crore for the year ending March 2021, if the company grows under his leadership. He has also been given an annual grant of Rs 3.25 crore in stocks, and an annual performance equity grant of Rs 13 crore, to be paid depending upon Infosys’ performance. Parekh will also get a one-time Rs 9.75 crore in stocks, which is held to be similar to a joining bonus.

Parekh, a former Capgemini executive, was appointed to the post in December 2017 to steer the underperforming company towards growth, and joined the organization on Jan. 2. The appointment has been watched closely since Sikka quit following differences with founder NR Narayana Murthy. Sikka was in the midst of controversies over the large spendings he had allegedly approved without the board’s permission. The board had also been divided over Sikka’s pay package, which was Rs. 49 crore for 2015-16. During the same period, Sikka’s peers, then Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) chief N. Chandrasekaran was paid Rs 25.60 crore by the Tata Group for 2015-16, while Wipro CEO Abidali Neemuchwala’s annual pay was Rs 12 crore. For 2016-17, N. Chandrasekaran earned Rs 30.15 crore in compensation, while Neemuchwala’s pay was around Rs. 13.25 crore.

The hike in Sikka’s package in early 2017 that increased the package to around Rs.70 crore after the Infosys board raised his salary in his second year had also rankled Murthy.

The current pay package for Parekh is higher than his earlier remuneration at the Paris-based IT firm.

Parekh was welcomed on Jan. 2, 2017 at the Bengaluru-based headquarters where he will be working, unlike Sikka, who worked from Palo Alto. Pravin Rao, the interim MD and CEO, has been redesignated as COO, according to the filings.

CEOs of companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) earn 229 times more than the average worker in India, according to Bloomberg’s Global CEO Pay-to-Average Income Ratio report. The pay gap is only second to the United States, where the ratio is 265.