Infosys directors get 81% more cash compensation - The Hindu Business Line - India

Infosys directors get 81% more cash compensation

Commission structure

The commission
structure was commensurate with global best practices in terms of
remunerating non-executive directors of a company of similar size and
adequately compensates for the time and contribution made by them, the
annual report says.

T.E. Raja Simhan

Chennai, June 1 Cash compensation to Infosys directors increased
by 81 per cent to Rs 10.45 crore during the year ended March 31, 2008
compared with Rs 5.76 crore a year ago. The compensation includes basic
salary, allowances and taxable value of perquisites.

The information technology major paid Rs 4.19 crore as commission to
its non-executive directors, which was a 135 per cent increase over the
previous year’s Rs 1.78 crore, according to the company’s 2007-08
annual report.

The increase in commission was high despite the rupee appreciation against the dollar.

In 2007-08, the commission was calculated based on the exchange
value of Rs 40.02 a dollar, compared with Rs 43.10 a dollar a year ago.
The payment of fixed pay was increased to $75,000 compared with $35,000
and variable pay (based on the board meeting attendance) doubled to
$25,000.

global best practices

The commission structure was commensurate with global best practices
in terms of remunerating non-executive directors of a company of
similar size and adequately compensates for the time and contribution
made by them, the annual report says.

The nine-member non-executive/independent directors include Mr N.R.
Narayana Murthy, Mr Deepak M. Satwalekar, Prof Marti G. Subramanyam and
Dr Omkar Goswami.

Mr T.V. Mohandas Pai, Infosys Director, saw his gross remuneration
nearly double to Rs 1.78 crore (Rs 91.65 lakh). The second-highest
salary was drawn by Mr Srinath Batni, Director and Head (Delivery
Excellence), Infosys, who got a 66 per cent increase to Rs 1.26 crore
(Rs 77.64 lakh).

The company’s CEO, Mr S. Gopalakrishnan, enjoyed a 57 per cent
increase in compensation to Rs 81.45 lakh (Rs 51.74 lakh). However, the
company’s CFO, Mr V. Balakrishnan, saw his annual compensation decline
by 19 per cent to Rs 62.92 lakh (Rs 77.56 lakh), says the annual report.