Salil Parekh’s Salary Jumps 22% to ₹80.6 Cr in FY25 — Highest Among Top Indian IT CEOs

Infosys CEO’s earnings powered by higher stock options and stronger performance in FY25.

Infosys CEO Salil Parekh has seen a significant rise in his annual compensation for the financial year 2025. According to the company’s latest annual report, Parekh’s salary surged by 22% to ₹80.6 crore, making him one of the highest-paid executives in the Indian IT sector.

👉 The major reason for this sharp increase was his higher exercise of restricted stock units (RSUs) — a type of equity compensation that forms a key part of Infosys’ executive pay structure.

For context, RSUs are shares given by a company to its employees or executives, typically as part of performance or retention-based plans. Infosys offers RSUs under two different plans —

• The 2015 plan, where shares vest based on time

• The 2019 plan, where shares vest based on performance, including total shareholder returns and operational metrics

A Big Jump From Last Year

In FY24, Parekh’s total compensation was ₹56 crore, which itself was a decline from ₹71 crore in FY22. However, the FY25 figure marks a strong comeback, backed by better stock option gains and improved variable pay.

Here’s a closer look at how his FY25 salary breaks down:

• ₹49.5 crore came from exercised stock options, up from ₹39 crore the previous year

• Base pay remained steady at ₹7.5 crore

• Variable pay increased to ₹23.2 crore, from ₹19.8 crore in FY24

• He also received ₹50 lakh as retiral benefits

Outpacing Rivals in the Industry

With this increase, Salil Parekh’s salary has now outpaced other major IT leaders in India.

• TCS CEO K Krithivasan earned ₹26.5 crore in FY25 — a 4.6% hike from the previous year

• Wipro CEO Srinivas Pallia took home $6.2 million (approximately ₹53.6 crore), marking a 10% increase

This positions Parekh as the highest-paid CEO among the top three Indian IT giants.

Earnings Compared to Employees

What’s even more striking is that Parekh’s compensation is 752 times the median remuneration of Infosys employees, which stands at ₹10.72 lakh.

Despite the stark contrast, Parekh emphasized the company’s forward-looking approach in his letter to shareholders. He wrote that Infosys is a leader in AI, cloud, data, and digital transformation for its global clientele, signaling continued growth in high-demand tech sectors.