Mukesh Ambani earns less than deputies for 2nd year

MUMBAI: For the second year in a row, India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani took home less pay than his top two lieutenants, as he stuck to a 2009 pledge freezing his pay at ₹15 crore.

Ambani’s cousins and RIL executive directors Nikhil Meswani and Hital Meswani earned ₹19.9 crore each in the financial year 2017-18, while Ambani’s salary remained unchanged, according to the annual report of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). In 2016-17, the Meswanis had each earned ₹16.58 crore annually.

“The compensation of Mukesh Ambani has been set at ₹15 crore, reflecting his desire to set a personal example for moderation in managerial compensation levels,” RIL said in its annual report for 2017-18. Till 2007-08, Ambani was the top-paid executive in India with an annual compensation package of ₹44 crore.

Ambani, chairman of RIL, has a net worth of $40.1 billion. He was ranked 19th globally in

2018 ‘World’s Billionaires’ list, up from the 33rd position in 2017. Ambani’s take-home pay for 2017-18 includes perquisites, allowances and commissions. His base salary and allowances saw an increase of ₹4.49 crore while the commission on profit marginally rose to ₹9.53 crore. Perqui-

sites earned were down from ₹60 lakh in 2016-17 to ₹27 lakh in 2017-18 and retiral benefits stood unchanged at ₹71 lakh.

Nikhil Meswani and Hital Meswani earned ₹5.27 and ₹5.26 crore, respectively, in 2017-18 as part of salary and allowances while commission payable was ₹14.40 crore each. Retiral benefits

stood at ₹29 lakh each. Nikhil Meswani’s perquisites added up to ₹3 lakh while that of Hital Meswani’s was ₹4 lakh.

Ambani’s wife Nita Ambani, who joined the RIL board as a non-executive director in 2014, earned ₹6 lakh sitting fee and a commission of ₹1.50 crore against ₹1.35 crore in 2016-17.