RIGHT MOVES

SAUGATA GUPTA MD & CEO, Marico Ltd.

` 16.55 crore (2016/17) ` 8.06 crore (2015/16)

SAUGATA GUPTA, MD & CEO of the ` 6,322 crore Marico, is the highest paid CEO in the Indian FMCG sector. At

` 16.55 crore, his remuneration in 2016/17 was higher than that of the CEO of the

` 35,218 crore Hindustan Unilever. This included stock options worth ` 7.72 crore.

Though Marico is synonymous with its founder, Harsh Mariwala, Gupta has been the force behind its growth for close to a decade. Under Gupta, the company has evolved into a hair care company from being just a coconut oil manufacturer. It recently ventured into male grooming too. It is also into premium edible oil and health foods under the Saffola brand. Almost all its brands, be it hair oils, edible oils or other value-added hair products, are market leaders in their categories. The company’s latest foray is Studio X, premium male grooming products that it plans to sell only through Amazon.

Analysts say Marico will be an over ` 7,000 crore company by 2019. Marico reported standalone net profit of ` 718.2 crore for 2017/18 as against ` 842.7 crore in 2016/17. Total income was

` 5,398.5 crore as against

` 5,130.74 crore in 2016/17.

The bulk of this growth came from rural markets. Marico, under Gupta, is surely making the right moves.