Shikha Sharma gets 22% hike in remuneration

Shikha Sharma, managing director and chief executive officer (MD and CEO) of Axis Bank, in the past financial year received a 22 per cent hike in her remuneration to Rs 5.10 crore a year. This does not include gratuity, provident fund, and superannuation benefits. This is double the hike of 11 per cent Sharma had received in FY15.

Among private banks, Aditya Puri, MD of HDFC Bank, continues to be the highest paid chief with a remuneration of Rs 9.73 crore in FY16. Puri’s salary jumped 32 per cent compared with his pay in FY15.

The salary of ICICI Bank MD & CEO Chanda Kochhar in FY16 stood at Rs 6.59 crore, a jump of 13 per cent over Rs 5.85 crore in FY15. ICICI Bank management had decided to forego the performance bonus in FY16 as the bank’s performance remained under pressure due to rising bad loans.

In its annual report released on Thursday, Axis Bank said it was planning to focus on start-ups and e-commerce as a business segment and had created a new business vertical — the new economy group within the corporate banking division. The bank said this vertical would focus on improving the relationship with e-commerce companies and start-ups, through a relationship-driven comprehensive coverage model.

“There is a whole new ecosystem that is being built on the backbone of technology, innovation, and enterprise. We are engaging with many of these new companies with our investment banking solutions, banking products, meeting their transaction banking needs, and serving their customers. In some markets, we are partnering these new companies to fund their suppliers,” the bank said in its annual report.

Several other banks such as HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, and Federal Bank, among others, have either allocated funds or created special divisions to focus on the start-up ecosystem.