Sandeep Kalra, the CEO and Executive Director of Persistent Systems, is the highest paid CEO in India for the year 2026. He earned a total compensation of ₹388.58 crores during FY 2025-26, as reported by the company's annual disclosures and Capitaline market data for FY 2025-26. His compensation surged a whopping 162% as compared to ₹148.09 crore earned during 2025.
Did You Know?
Sandeep Kalra was the highest paid CEO in 2025 with a total compensation of ₹148.09 crore.
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Breaking Down Sandeep Kalra's ₹388.58 Crore Pay Package
The number behind the humongous package of Sandeep Kalra is not made entirely of fixed salary.
In fact, Kalra's fixed salary and benefits consist of 6% of the total pay, or ₹22.58 crores, while the remaining 94%, which is around ₹366 crores, came from exercising the perquisites and other payments.
It should be noted that the perquisite value refers to the benefit received from the exercising of stock options and is not a part of the CTC of the CEO.
It is also worth noting that Sandeep Kalra received salary from both the Indian arm of Persistent Systems and its US based entity Persistent Systems Inc.
Let us also take a look at the top 10 highest paid CEO's in India in the year 2026.
Top 10 Highest-Paid Indian CEOs in 2026
The following is the list of Top 10 highest paid CEO's in India featuring leaders across IT services, automotive, infrastructure, and pharmaceuticals.
|
Rank
|
Executive Name
|
Company
|
Remuneration in 2026
|
Primary Sector
|
|
1
|
Sandeep Kalra
|
Persistent Systems
|
₹388.58 Crore
|
IT Services
|
|
2
|
C. Vijayakumar
|
HCL Tech
|
₹171.93 Crore
|
IT Services
|
|
3
|
Pawan Munjal
|
Hero MotoCorp
|
₹122.31 Crore
|
Automotive
|
|
4
|
S. N. Subrahmanyan
|
Larsen & Toubro (L&T)
|
₹120.84 Crore
|
Engineering & Infrastructure
|
|
5
|
Murali K. Divi
|
Divi's Laboratories
|
₹100.26 Crore
|
Pharmaceuticals
|
|
6
|
Salil Parekh
|
Infosys
|
₹82.60 Crore
|
IT Services
|
|
7
|
Neeraj Kanwar
|
Apollo Tyres
|
₹78.41 Crore
|
Automotive Ancillary
|
|
8
|
H. M. Bangur
|
Shree Cement
|
₹68.59 Crore
|
Manufacturing / Cement
|
|
9
|
Ambarish Kenghe
|
Angel One
|
₹68.23 Crore
|
Financial Services / Fintech
|
|
10
|
Mohit Joshi
|
Tech Mahindra
|
₹67.58 Crore
|
IT Services
|
Why the Executive Pay Surged in 2026?
The reason behind the surge in executive pay is based on three structural factors which are presented below:
1.Larger companies now increasingly structure the executive pay tied directly to the performance of the company, such as 70 to 90% in variables such as stocks and equity. Whenever market valuations increase the corresponding equity value increases resulting in a higher compensation for the executives.
2. The IT services firms generate 80% of the business from North America and Europe, therefore the compensation packages are on par with international dollar pay standards.
3. Executives who recieved their payments in form of US dollars saw a significant growth due to declining value of rupee against dollar.
Who is the highest paid Indian CEO in 2026?
Sandeep Kalra, the CEO and Executive Director of Persistent Systems, is the highest paid CEO in India with a compensation of 388.58 crore rupees.
Is Sandeep Kalra's salary paid entirely in cash?
No, the overall compensation structure of Sandeep Kalra is based on fixed salary plus ESOP's, where the fixed component is just 6% of his overall compensation and 94% is ESOP.
Who is the highest-paid CEO in India's automotive sector?
The highest paid CEO in the automotive sector is Pawan Munjal, the CEO of Hero MotoCorp who earned ₹122.31 crores in 2026 making him the top boss in automotive industry in India.
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