Indian CEOs’ Average Salary Increased by 40% to Around Rs 14 Crore from Pre-Covid Levels: Deloitte Report

According to the Deloitte India Executive Performance and Rewards Survey 2024, the average CEO compensation stands at Rs 13.8 crore. However, for CEOs who are also promoters or members of the promoter family, the average compensation is higher at Rs 16.7 crore.

Anandorup Ghose, Partner, CHRO Programme Leader at Deloitte India, stated that the higher compensation for promoter CEOs can be attributed to their longer tenure and the wider range of their compensation. The survey also revealed that more than 50% of the CEO’s target compensation is ‘pay-at-risk’, indicating a significant portion of compensation is performance-based.

Additionally, professional CEOs have a higher pay-at-risk at 57% compared to promoter CEOs at 47%. Professional CEOs also have 25% of their target compensation delivered through long-term incentives, often paid through share-linked incentives.

The survey highlighted a high-single-digit annual growth in CEO compensation in India. There is a significant gap between median and average CEO compensation, indicating a wide range of compensation numbers and some outliers at the higher end.

Furthermore, the analysis revealed that 45% of BSE 200 companies witnessed a CEO change over the past five years, with 60% of new CEOs being homegrown and the remaining 40% being external hires. The survey also examined the use of incentives for CEOs and CXOs, noting that they are primarily tilted towards financial company-level goals.

There has been an increase in the use of share-based incentives, while the prevalence of stock options or ESOPs has decreased. There is also a shift in discussions in the boardroom from the need for share-based payment to the return from these incentive structures to stakeholders.

The Deloitte India Executive Performance and Rewards Survey 2024 is the fifth edition of the survey. It involved participation from more than 400 organizations in India, excluding public sector companies.