Independent directors' payouts under govt lens: All you need to know

Remunerations of independent directors have come under the scanner. A government-appointed panel has recommended that such a director should not derive more than 20 per cent of her/his total income from one company. This analysis looks at the top independent directors and their remunerations in 2017-18, which include sitting fees and commissions. 

According to data compiled by Prime Database, top 14 IDs have been paid remuneration between Rs 20 million and Rs 50 million in 2017-18. Aman Mehta topped the list with a compensation of Rs 50. 7 million, serving on the boards of Vedanta, Tata Steel and Godrej Consumer, followed by Om Prakash Bhatt who is on boards of three Tata group of companies among others and earned Rs 42.3 million. Punita Jayata Sinha was at third position taking home Rs 29 million last year , followed by Adil Zainulbhai and R A Mashelkar who are both on the board of Reliance Industries. With lapses of corporate governance at IL&FS, experts say it is likely that the government may accept the panel recommendations. The government is considering implementing these changes by amending the Companies Act through an Ordinance.

Source: Prime Database for remuneration/Bloomberg for board details