Tata Group CEOs see broad-based FY25 pay hikes led by growth sectors

Top Tata Group executives saw an average 19.2% pay hike in FY25, driven by profit growth in consumer, hospitality, and tech units, while heavy industries stayed muted

Top executives across Tata Group companies witnessed a broad uptick in remuneration during FY25, driven by rising profitability of the companies they represent, thereby leading to higher payout in the form of commissions, and wider strategic roles across the $150-billion conglomerate.

 

The trend, captured in the annual disclosures of group companies, reflects the earnings performance and an ongoing recalibration of leadership incentives.

 

On average, excluding the triple-digit hike in one case, the pay rise is 19.2 per cent for the top-12 executives.

 

A standout trend was the strong double-digit growth in compensation across several consumer-facing businesses.

 

Trent managing director (MD) P Venkatesalu saw his compensation package nearly double to ₹13.5 crore, while Tata Consumer Products chief executive officer (CEO) Sunil A D’Souza saw a 28.4 per cent jump in compensation to ₹13 crore.

 

Likewise, Indian Hotels’ MD Puneet Chhatwal’s pay rose 19.2 per cent to ₹23 crore amid a record year for the hospitality firm.

 

A huge surge in profits was seen at Tejas Networks, where its MD & CEO Anand Athreya’s pay jumped 343 per cent to ₹16.8 crore.

 

However, the company clarified that the FY24 figure excluded variable pay, which has exaggerated the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) percentage change for FY25 and thus, cannot be compared.

 

In contrast, TCS’s MD & CEO K Krithivasan received a more measured 4.6 per cent raise to ₹26.5 crore despite the IT major’s position as the largest profit contributor to the group.

 

The raise, however, was in line with the 5.8 per cent rise in the country’s largest IT services firm’s profit in FY25.

 

Meanwhile, Tata Steel MD TV Narendran saw a marginal 0.9 per cent decline in pay to ₹17.3 crore — the only decrease among top executives. This marginal decline in remuneration was despite the company turning around and reporting a profit of ₹3,421 crore in FY25.

 

Data shows that executive remuneration growth was closely aligned with sectoral performance.

 

Consumer, hospitality, and technology-linked businesses saw the steepest hikes, while traditional heavy industries recorded moderation. 

 

Notably, several executives also took on larger responsibilities, with Noel Tata’s appointment as chairman of Tata Trusts marking a significant leadership shift.

 

Noel Tata, also chairman of Trent and Voltas, earned ₹6.1 crore — a 29.3 per cent rise over FY24 — in a year that also saw him succeed late Ratan Tata at Tata Trusts, the principal shareholder of Tata Sons, the group's holding company.

 

Noel Tata is also vice-chairman of Tata Steel and chairs the Tata Investment Corporation Board.

 

As some Tata Group companies prepare for public offerings — including Tata Capital and Tata Electronics — the alignment of executive pay with shareholder returns, sector growth, and strategic execution appears to be central to the group’s compensation philosophy.

 

N Chandrasekaran, executive chairman of Tata Sons, remained among the highest-paid executives in the country, with a 15.1 per cent rise in his annual pay to ₹156 crore.

 

His remuneration includes compensation from multiple Board roles within the group and as commission on Tata Sons’ profits.

 

Sourabh Agrawal, executive director at Tata Sons, also saw his pay rise 7.6 per cent to ₹32.8 crore in FY25 as he gets ready to spearhead Tata Capital’s upcoming $2 billion IPO as its chairman. 

 

But Tata Sons, which earns its income from subsidiaries, saw a steep 24.3 per cent fall in profits during the year.

 

Top CEOs of Tata Group			Remuneration (Rs cr)
CEO	Designation	Company	FY24	FY25	Chg Y-o-Y %
N Chandrasekaran ^	Executive Chairman	Tata Sons	135.5	156.0	15.1
Saurabh Agrawal ^	Executive Director	Tata Sons	30.5	32.8	7.6
K Krithivasan	MD & CEO	TCS	25.4	26.5	4.6
Puneet Chhatwal	MD & CEO	Indian Hotels	19.3	23.0	19.2
Amur Swaminathan Lakshminarayanan	MD & CEO	Tata Comm	17.0	19.2	12.6
T V Narendran	MD & CEO	Tata Steel	17.5	17.3	-0.9
Anand Arthreya #	MD & CEO	Tejas Networks	3.8	16.8	343.0
Koushik Chatterjee	Executive Director & CFO	Tata Steel	13.6	14.0	2.9
P Venkatesalu	MD	Trent	7.1	13.5	89.7
C K Venkataraman	MD	Titan Company	12.5	13.0	4.4
Sunil A D'Souza	MD & CEO	Tata Consumer	10.1	13.0	28.4
Praveer Sinha	MD & CEO	Tata Power	10.3	12.1	17.6
Noel N Tata ^	Non – Executive Director	Tata Sons	4.7	6.1	29.3

^{# FY24 does not includes variable pay; revenue and net profit figures rounded off; LTP is loss to profit}

^{^ Board members of Tata Sons and also on the board of Indian Hotels, Tata Consumer, Tata Investment, Tata Motors, Tata Power, Tata Steel, TCS, Titan Company, Trent, Voltas}

 

^{Source: Capitaline}

^{Compiled by BS Research Bureau}