Indian CEOs' Average 2024 Salary Rises 40% From Pre-Covid Levels To Rs 13.8 Crore: Deloitte
CEOs who were also promoters or members of the promoter family received a compensation of Rs 16.7 crore on average.
The average compensation of CEOs in India rose 40% compared with pre-Covid times to Rs 13.8 crore in 2024, with more than half of the overall remuneration linked to short-term and long-term incentives, according to the Deloitte India Executive Performance and Rewards Survey 2024.
The survey, which saw participation from more than 400 organisations, showed that CEOs who were also promoters or members of the promoter family were paid Rs 16.7 crore on average. Over the past four years, the ratio of promoter to professional CEO compensation increased significantly from around 1 to 1.3.
“Promoter CEO compensation outpacing professional CEO compensation is primarily driven by two factors. Professional CEOs change more often than promoter CEOs due to the longer tenure of promoter CEOs at an aggregate,” said Anandorup Ghose, partner, CHRO programme leader, Deloitte India. “But it is also important to note that the range of promoter CEO compensation is very wide, and that affects the higher averages,” Ghose added.
According to Deloitte India, while CEO compensation has increased, more than 50% of target compensation was pay-at-risk. For professional CEOs, pay-at-risk at 57% was higher than for promoter CEOs at 47%. Professional CEOs have 25% of their target compensation delivered through long-term incentives, which was usually paid through share-linked incentives.
COOs and CFOs continued to command the highest compensation premiums in India. For these two roles, 44% of target compensation was at-risk, with almost half of it being driven through long-term incentives, the survey showed.
The percentage of companies using share-based incentives rose from 63% in 2020 to 75% in 2024. The prevalence of stock options, or ESOPs, decreased to 49% of companies in 2024 compared with 68% of companies in 2020.
While assessing CEO and CXO performance, most companies used a holistic scorecard that includes a mix of financial and non-financial metrics and targets. However, incentives for CEOs and CXOs were still tilted towards financial company-level goals within those scorecards, the survey showed.
“Large Indian companies with more mature and globally aligned compensation practices are pivoting towards performance shares and use of multiple incentive plans for different employee cohorts. Conversations in the boardroom have also shifted from the need for share-based payment to the return from these incentive structures to stakeholders,” Ghose said.
Additionally, an analysis of CEO changes in BSE 200 companies (excluding public sector units) showed that 45% of companies witnessed a CEO change over the past five years. Six of every 10 new CEOs were homegrown (internally appointed) and the remaining were external hires.
