In auto sector, those from promoter families earn the most

Munjal family which runs Hero MotoCorp lead the pack securing top three positions

Eight of the 10 highest-paid executives in the automobile sector are from promoter families. According to latest disclosures in annual reports, the Delhi-based Munjal family, which runs Hero MotoCorp, leads the list of the highest-paid executives in the sector, accounting for the top three positions. Apollo Tyres Chairman Onkar Kanwar and Bajaj Auto’s Rajiv Bajaj complete the top-five list.

For 2013-14, Pawan Kant Munjal, managing director and chief executive, Hero MotoCorp, retained his position as the highest-paid executive in this sector for the third consecutive year, with a total annual package of Rs 37.88 crore. He was marginally ahead of his father and Chairman Brijmohan Lall Munjal, whose package stood at Rs 36.98 crore. Sunil Kant Munjal, Pawan Kant Munjal’s brother and joint managing director, drew a package of Rs 35.97 crore. The packages include salary, perquisites and commission.

A total of Rs 111 crore, 43 per cent higher than the annual net profit of Force Motors, maker of sports utility vehicles and light trucks, was shared between the three senior Hero MotoCorp executives. The rise in the pay packages of the three (13-15.5 per cent) come at a time when Hero MotoCorp has maintained its share in the domestic market, in which it accounts for two out of every five bikes produced.

Apollo Tyres, India’s second-largest tyre maker by tonnage, said for 2013-14, the pay package of its chairman, Onkar Kanwar, had increased 27 per cent to Rs 30.4 crore. For 2012-13, Kanwar was fourth on the list, with a total package of Rs 24.17 crore.

Rajiv Bajaj, managing director, Bajaj Auto, received a pay package of Rs 18.36 crore in 2013-14, 20 per cent higher than 2012-13. In 2009-10, his pay package stood at Rs 3.49 crore.

Meanwhile, the pay packages of those outside promoter families pale in comparison. For instance, Pawan Goenka, executive director of Mahindra & Mahindra, drew a package of Rs 2.36 crore in 2013-14. Goenka, also president (automotive and farm equipment sectors) of the company, has been with Mahindra & Mahindra for two decades. For 2013-14, the annual pay package of the late Karl Slym, former Tata Motors managing director, stood at Rs 12.84 crore, while that of Ravindra Pisharody, head of the company’s commercial vehicles unit, stood at Rs 3.75 crore.

“Usually, the top executives of any company are also members of the board. So, there is not much of a restriction in deciding the compensation because these are closely-held companies, unlike other professionally-managed companies,” said Sunil Goel, director, GlobalHunt.