Gautam Adani’s Salary in FY24 Falls Below His Own Top Executives

Gautam Adani, a prominent industrialist regularly featured near the top of India and Asia’s wealthiest lists, earned a total salary of Rs 9.26 crore in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024. This amount was lower than most of his peers in the Indian industry and even below some of his top executives within his companies.

In the financial year 2023-24, Adani’s remuneration from Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) included a salary of Rs 2.19 crore along with perks, allowances, and other benefits totaling Rs 27 lakh. His total remuneration of Rs 2.46 crore marked a 3% increase from the previous year, as per AEL’s annual report.

Additionally, he received Rs 6.8 crore from Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd (APSEZ).

Adani’s salary falls short in comparison to the heads of most major family-owned conglomerates in India. For instance, Mukesh Ambani, the wealthiest Indian, has forgone his salary since the onset of Covid-19, previously capping it at Rs 15 crore. Adani’s remuneration is notably lower than figures like telecom leader Sunil Bharti Mittal (Rs 16.7 crore in 2022-23), Rajiv Bajaj (Rs 53.7 crore), Pawan Munjal (Rs 80 crore), L&T Chairman S N Subrahmanyan, and Infosys CEO Salil S Parekh.

Ranked at USD 106 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, Adani has been in competition with Ambani for the title of Asia’s richest person. Despite temporarily holding the top spot, a critical report by US short-seller Hindenburg Research led to a significant decline in his group’s stock value last year. He briefly regained the top position twice in 2023 but again yielded it to Ambani.

Ambani holds the 12th spot on the world’s richest list with a net worth of USD 111 billion, whereas Adani ranks 14th.

According to the annual report, Adani’s younger brother Rajesh earned Rs 8.37 crore, including a Rs 4.71 crore commission from AEL, while his nephew Pranav Adani received Rs 6.46 crore, with Rs 4.5 crore as commission.

Adani did not take any commission from AEL but received Rs 5 crore from APSEZ, including Rs 1.8 crore as salary and Rs 5 crore in commission payable in the 2024-25 fiscal year.

His son, Karan, earned Rs 3.9 crore from APSEZ.

Notably, Adani’s brother, nephew, and son did not draw salaries from more than one company.

Key executive and AEL board director Vinay Prakash received total remuneration of Rs 89.37 crore, while Group CFO Jugeshinder Singh earned Rs 9.45 crore as salary.

In the renewable energy sector, Adani Green Energy Ltd CEO Vneet S Jaain was paid Rs 15.25 crore, Adani Total Gas Ltd (ATGL) CEO Suresh P Manglani earned Rs 6.88 crore, and Adani Wilmar CEO Angshu Mallick received Rs 5.15 crore.

The AEL annual report highlighted an average remuneration increase of 12% for employees excluding key managerial personnel (KMPs), with a slightly higher rise of 5.37% for KMPs.

Adani Power CEO S B Khyalia received Rs 5.63 crore.