Desi CEOs take home more than expats at electronics companies
As per the regulatory filings from more than a dozen large electronics companies for fiscal 2023, the remunerations of Indian chief executives working in domestic and multinational companies were higher than the expat heads. For instance, Indian CEOs at Sony, Blue Star and Crompton Greaves took home more money than their foreign counterparts at the local units of Samsung, LG and Vivo that had a much larger scale of business.
Industry executives attributed this trend to more companies betting on localising their senior management and being ready to pay a premium to such executives.
Also, the hardship allowance that foreign executives used to get for India posting has become history, affecting their total pay.
Executive search and talent advisory firm ABC Consultants managing director Shiv Agrawal said the India posting for expats is now seen more as an opportunity for their future growth, hence salary components like hardship allowance are not part of the package anymore.
“Further, the Indian senior management talent pool has increased. There is a growing realisation that it’s better to have local talent at the helm for better understanding of the Indian market and companies are ready to pay a premium for it.
The fact of expat compensation far more than Indians has broken,” said Agrawal.
Home grown Blue Star’s managing director, B Thiagarajan, took Rs 8.12 crore, including a commission of Rs 4.12 crore, in FY23. Sony India managing director Sunil Nayyar’s remuneration was Rs 6.8 crore while the company’s deputy MD Tomohiro Nakashima drew Rs 2.6 crore.
Whirlpool India MD Vishal Bhola, who resigned in April 2023, got Rs 5.31 crore in the year ended March 2023, including employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) worth Rs
