Indian CEOs’ median pay rises 5% to Rs 10.5 crore in FY26: Report

New Delhi: Median compensation for professional chief executives in India rose 5 per cent year‑on‑year to about Rs 10.5 crore in FY26, marking the slowest pace of growth since the COVID‑19 pandemic period, a new report has said.

The report from Deloitte India’s said the muted rise was due to subdued equity‑market performance, which reduced the value of stock‑linked compensation — a significant component of executive pay.

The business advisory firm found that nearly one‑third of CEO pay is linked to stock awards, making total compensation dip significantly due to poor returns in equity markets over the past 12 to 18 months.

Pay increases for other Chief Experience Officers (CXO) ranged between 4 per cent and 10 per cent, with chief financial officers seeing the largest gains given high attrition, focus on capital efficiency and expanded board‑level responsibilities with direct shareholder accountability. Median compensation for Indian CFOs stood at around Rs 4.5 crore, the report said.

Further, the firm said that a chief digital officer role is increasingly emerging as a CXO role and that the CXO performance assessment remains robust in India.

“CXO compensation decisions in India have shown great maturity. Market volatility and downside risks have increased further recently amid ongoing geopolitical risks. We do not expect any knee-jerk reactions from boards and remuneration committees, and they are likely to change course depending on how domestic and external events unfold," said Anandorup Ghose, Partner, Deloitte India.

"While CXO performance is assessed on both financial and non-financial strategic metrics, and the evaluation is data-driven, we see discretion being applied to determine CXO rewards outcomes. This helps organisations align long-term business roadmaps to compensation strategies while continuing to focus on accountability," the report said.

Rather than a one-plan-fits-all approach with respect to stock awards, remuneration committees and CHROs are increasingly using multiple long-term incentive plans for different employee cohorts marking a major shift in India Inc's remuneration strategies.