Tata group doles out handsome hikes for independent directors

The independent directors of 10 leading listed Tat a group companies have received a hefty hike in their remuneration for FY 18 as compared to the previous year. Bar ring Tat a Motors, the average hike of 35 independent directors of Tat a Power, Tata

Steel, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tata Communications, Tata Chemicals, Titan, Trent, Indian Hotels and Tat a Global Services in FY 18 was 19 percent more than in FY17, statistics collated by this newspaper show.

The hike sin remuneration were inline with the companies’ performance, bar ring T CS which had flat growth in profit. Former SB I chairman OP Bhatt received a hike in remuneration from both TC Sand Tat a Steel of 15.9 percent and 39percent, respectively. InMay2017, Bhatt was inducted into the board of Tat a Motors and received remuneration from the loss making company, too. Another long-time independent director of Tat a Steel, Mallika Srinivasan, received a hike of 27.6 percent in FY 18. The hike was possible as Tat a Steel turned around in FY 18 and made a profit of ~134billion, as its sales grew by 17.7percent. Srinivasan also got a 32 percent hike from Tata Global. Ron Sommer and Aman Mehta, independent directors of TCS, received 9.5 percent and 12.5 percent hikes, respectively. Clayton Christensen, anindependent director in TCS, received a 10.1 percent hike. TCS saw a marginal decline in profit in FY 18 but performed well on th eb ours es with its market capital is at ion crossing $100 billion in April.

The directors of Titan Company saw the best hikes in remuneration. Vinita Bali, Ireena Vittal and Ashwani Puri received 107 per cent, 56.4 per cent and 81.4 per cent, respectively.

The independent directors of Tata Motors, Nasser Munjee, V K Jairath and Falguni Nayar, however, saw a decline in their remuneration, as the company made a loss on stand-alone basis. The company skipped commission on profits to its independent directors as it made an exceptional provision for impairment of ~9.63 billion in FY18. Tata Motors expects significant disruptions in the automobile industry, which necessitated a review of the company’s tangible and intangible assets to ensure “Fit for Future” strategy and, hence, the impairment.

HDFC group Chairman Deepak Parekh, and Ireena Vittal, two independent directors on the board Indian Hotels, the operators of the Taj group of hotels, saw a decline in their remuneration by 2.8 per cent and 14.5 per cent, respectively. But N B Godrej and Vibha Paul Rishi received a hike of 85 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively.