Natarajan Chandrasekaran, the Chairman of Tata Sons, has received a 15% increase in his remuneration for the fiscal year 2025, bringing his total compensation to ₹155.81 crore. This substantial pay package positions him among the highest-paid CEOs in India.
Chandrasekaran's FY25 compensation includes ₹15.1 crore in salary and other compensation, with the remaining ₹140.7 crore coming from commission on profits. The commission on profits amounted to 0.6% of the FY25 net profit, which is a rise from 0.4% of the net profit in FY24.
This increase in compensation comes despite a reported 24.3% drop in Tata Sons' profit for the same fiscal year. The company's profit decreased from ₹34,654 crore in FY24 to ₹26,232 crore in FY25. Tata Sons reported a 12% decrease in total revenue to ₹38,834.58 crore. The previous year's revenue of ₹43,893 crore included significant income from the buyback of TCS shares. Profit before tax stood at ₹35,440.76 crore in FY25, compared to ₹39,813.16 crore the previous year.
However, on a consolidated basis, Tata Sons posted a 24% rise in revenue to ₹5.92 lakh crore in FY25. Despite this, net profit fell 17% to ₹28,898 crore compared to the previous year, though no specific explanation was provided for the decline. The company's dividend, however, doubled to ₹1,414.5 crore from ₹707.2 crore in FY24.
Other top executives at Tata Sons have also seen increases in their compensation. Saurabh Agrawal, Executive Director, received a 7.7% increase, bringing his total remuneration to ₹32.7 crore, including salary and commission on profit. The commission on profit for the rest of the board saw an increase of 6.7%. Noel Tata, who joined the board in October of last year, received a commission on profit of ₹1.42 crore.
Under Chandrasekaran's leadership, the Tata Group has made significant strides in various sectors. Over the past five years, the group has nearly doubled its revenue and more than tripled its net profit. Group revenue from all listed and unlisted entities was ₹15.34 lakh crore in FY25, with a net profit of ₹1.13 lakh crore and a market cap of ₹37.84 lakh crore. Tata Sons has invested over ₹1 lakh crore in its group companies, while the companies within the group have made capital expenditure investments of over ₹4.5 lakh crore.
Chandrasekaran, who joined Tata Sons' board in October 2016 and was appointed Chairman in January 2017, has been instrumental in the company's strategic direction. He previously served as the CEO & MD of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for 8 years, where he led TCS to become the country's most valuable company.
Chandrasekaran's leadership has been focused on simplification, scale, and synergy, pursuing a "One Tata" strategy. He has steered the group into new businesses, including semiconductors, electronics manufacturing, and EV battery manufacturing. The acquisition of Air India also stands as a key achievement during his tenure.
His contributions have been recognized with several awards, including the Padma Bhushan in 2022 and the Légion d'Honneur from the French Government in 2023.
