Billionaire Mukesh Ambani forgoes salary for the second year in a row 

Reliance Industries (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani drew no salary from RIL in the last fiscal. The RIL boss gave up his remuneration voluntarily due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on business and the economy.  

This was the second year in a row when Ambani did not draw any salary from RIL. Reliance said in its latest annual report that Ambani decided to forgo his salary in 2021-22.  

His annual remuneration for FY2020-21 was “nil” as well.  In June 2020, the RIL chief decided to voluntarily forgo his salary for 2020-21, again due to the COVID-19 outbreak in India and the devastation it had caused to the Indian economy due to the ensuing lockdown.  

The company said in June 2020, “In light of the COVID-19 outbreak in India, which has exacted a huge toll on the societal, economic and industrial health of the nation, Mukesh D Ambani, the Chairman and Managing Director, has voluntarily decided to forgo his salary.” 

Ambani did not avail of allowances, perquisites, retiral benefits, commission or stock options form RIL as the Chairman and Managing Director for these two years.  

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ambani’s salary was capped at Rs 15 crore per annum since 2008-09 to set an example of moderation in managerial compensation levels. Ambani’s salary, perquisites, allowances and commission stood at Rs 15 crore per annum since 2008-09. 

Nita Ambani, a non-executive director on the RIL board, earned Rs 5 lakh as a sitting fee and another Rs 2 crore commission for FY2021-22. She got Rs 8 lakh sitting fee and another Rs 1.65 crore as commission for FY2020-21.  

Besides Ambani, the board has Nikhil Meswani, Hital Meswani, PMS Prasad and Pawan Kumar Kapil as wholetime directors. Remuneration of Nikhil and Hital Meswani drew Rs 24 crore each but it included Rs 17.28 crore commission.  

Executive directors PMS Prasad and Pawan Kumar Kapil’s remunerations fell marginally. Prasad drew Rs 11.89 crore in 2021-22, down from Rs 11.99 crore in 2020-21. Kapil raked in Rs 4.22 crore in 2021-22, less than Rs 4.24 crore in 2020-21.  

Their payment included “performance-linked incentive for FY2020-21 paid in FY2021-22,” as per the annual report.   

Apart from Nita Ambani, other non-executive directors are Adil Zainulbhai, former SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya, Dipak C Jain, former CVC KV Chowdhary, Raghunath A Mashelkar, Raminder Singh Gujral and Shumeet Banerji.  
Shares of RIL stood at 2,567.05 apiece on BSE at the time of writing this story. The company’s market cap stood at Rs 17.81 lakh crore.