Tata Motors’ Pathamadai Balachandran Balaji last year became the highest-paid chief financial officer (CFO) within the Tata Group in FY23 after leading the economic turnaround of the automotive business for the $128 billion Mumbai-based firm.
Balaji, who joined the company in 2017, was paid Rs 16.73 crore in FY23 and was the highest-paid employee at Tata Motors in the same year. His salary package is 31% higher than his Rs 12.73 crore FY22 package.
The Tata Group’s generous payments to Balaji reflected the reverse of tata motors’ fortunes, which were in constant losses. Jaguar Land Rover, a manufacturer of trucks, buses and cars and luxury vehicles, recorded its first full-year profit in eight years at FY23. It also paid dividends for the first time in so many years
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Among other goals, Balaji is committed to taking the company’s total automotive debt closer to zero before FY25 is completed.
Tata Steel’s executive director and CFO Kaushik Chatterjee’s marginal decline in remuneration can also be attributed to Balaji’s rise to the top spot within the group. Chatterjee, the group’s highest-paid CFO in FY22, paid Rs 14.21 crore in FY23, down 6% from the Rs 15.17 crore posted in FY22. Tata Steel’s profit after tax on FY23 fell by a fifth compared to FY22.
The Tata Group has 28 listed companies on the stock exchange. Its top performer, Tata Consultancy Services, did not share the remuneration of its CFO Sameer Seksaria. An email sent to the company in this regard did not elicit any response.
While Balaji reached the top spot, Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) CFO Giridhar Sanjeevi bagged the highest pay rise within the group. After returning to profit after a gap of three years, IHCL – the owner of the Taj brand of luxury hotels – rewarded Sanjeevi with a 34% hike in salary in FY23 over FY22 to Rs 4.35 crore.
Tata Sons CFO Eruch Kapadia’s salary for FY23 is yet to be disclosed as Tata Sons is yet to share its annual report for the year. His FY22 salary stands at Rs 2.62 crore.
