Citing pandemic, Mukesh Ambani refuses salary for second consecutive year

NEW DELHI: Mukesh Ambani chose not to receive remuneration from his flagship company Reliance Industries for the second consecutive year in the course of the previous fiscal year due to the epidemic that was affecting the industry and economy.

Reliance stated in its most recent annual report that Ambani received "zero" compensation for the fiscal year 2020–21.

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak in India, which had a severe impact on the country's societal, economic, and industrial health, Mukesh D. Ambani, the Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, voluntarily opted to forgo his income for the years 2020–21.

In 2021–2022 he still declined to accept payment.

In both these years, Ambani did not avail of any allowances, perquisites, retiral benefits, commission or stock options from Reliance for his role as the Chairman and Managing Director.

Before that, the Chairman and Managing Director had his salary capped at Rs 15 crore from 2008-09 to set a personal example of moderation in managerial compensation levels.

The Rs 15 crore salary in 2019-20 was the same as in the previous 11 years. Ambani has kept salary, perquisites, allowances and commission together at Rs 15 crore since 2008-09, forgoing over Rs 24 crore per annum.

"In light of the COVID-19 outbreak in India, which has exacted a huge toll on the societal, economic and industrial health of the nation, Mukesh D Ambani, the Chairman and Managing Director, has voluntarily decided to forego his salary," the company had said in June 2020.

The remuneration of his cousins Nikhil and Hital Meswani remained unchanged at Rs 24 crore but this time it included a Rs 17.28 crore commission.

Executive Directors PMS Prasad and Pawan Kumar Kapil saw their remuneration fall marginally.

While Prasad drew Rs 11.89 crore in 2021-22, down from Rs 11.99 crore in 2020-21, Kapil got Rs 4.22 crore, lower than Rs 4.24 crore in the previous year.

The payment of Prasad and Kapil included "performance-linked incentives for FY 2020-21 paid in FY 2021-22," the annual report said.

Ambani's wife Nita, a non-executive director on the company's board, earned Rs 5 lakh as a sitting fee and another Rs 2 crore commission for the year.

She received a sitting fee of Rs. 8 lakh and a commission of Rs. 1.65 crores the year before.

In addition to Ambani, the Meswani brothers, Prasad and Kapil, serve as full-time directors on the RIL board.

Other non-executive directors include former SBI chair Arundhati Bhattacharya, former CVC KV Chowdary, Dipak C. Jain, Raghunath A. Mashelkar, Adil Zainulbhai, Raminder Singh Gujral, and Shumeet Banerji.

Yasir O. Al-Rumayyan, the managing director and a board member of PIF, the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, received Rs 1.40 crore while all independent directors received a commission of Rs 2 crore. He joined the board on July 19, 2021, after being appointed.

(With PTI inputs)