HCLTech Managing Director and CEO C Vijayakumar emerged as the highest-paid chief executive among India's IT services companies for the third consecutive year, taking home a remuneration of around Rs 176.47 crore in fiscal 2026.
According to HCLTech's fiscal year 2026 annual report, Vijayakumar earned approximately $18.3 million during the financial year, marking a 68.7% increase from $10.45 million in fiscal year 2025.
His compensation package comprised a base salary of $2.48 million, up from $1.96 million in the previous year, along with a performance-linked bonus of $2 million compared with $1.73 million in fiscal year 2025.
The package also included a long-term incentive cash component of $3.94 million, which was absent in fiscal 2025. In addition, the perquisite value of restricted stock units (RSUs) exercised during fiscal 2026 stood at $9.4 million, rising from $6.96 million a year earlier. Benefits, perquisites and allowances totalled about $0.31 million, compared with $0.20 million in fiscal 2025.
Interestingly, despite the sharp increase in remuneration, Vijayakumar's actual fiscal 2026 compensation was marginally below what had been approved by the board. HCLTech's fiscal 2025 annual report had approved remuneration of $18.6 million for fiscal 2026, but he ultimately received $18.3 million, about 1.6% lower than the approved amount.
Highest-Paid CEO Among Indian IT Peers
Vijayakumar comfortably outpaced his peers across the Indian IT industry. Among the country's top IT services firms, Infosys CEO Salil Parekh earned Rs 82.6 crore in FY26, followed by Tech Mahindra CEO Mohit Joshi at around Rs 67.5 crore. Wipro CEO Srinivas Pallia received Rs 49.6 crore, while Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) CEO K Krithivasan earned Rs 28 crore. LTIMindtree CEO Venu Lambu took home Rs 27.26 crore.
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With remuneration of Rs 176.47 crore, Vijayakumar earned more than double that of the next highest-paid CEO in the sector.
Vijayakumar is based in the United States and receives his remuneration from HCL America Inc., a step-down wholly owned subsidiary of HCLTech incorporated in California.
The annual report also highlighted that his remuneration was approximately 291.9 times the median remuneration of HCLTech employees.
Vijayakumar has led HCLTech since 2016 and has overseen the company's expansion across digital transformation, cloud services and artificial intelligence, helping it remain one of India's largest IT services providers.
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