File photo of Gautam Adani.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
India’s second richest person Gautam Adani received a total remuneration of ₹10.41 crore in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025, lower than most industry peers and his own key executives.
Mr. Adani, 62, drew salaries from two out of the nine listed companies in his ports-to-energy conglomerate, the latest annual reports of the listed entities of the group showed. His total remuneration was 12% more than the ₹9.26 crore he had earned in the previous 2023-24 financial year.
His remuneration for 2024-25 from the group’s flagship firm Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) included ₹2.26 crore salary and another ₹28 lakh in perquisites, allowances and other benefits. The total earnings from AEL at ₹2.54 crore was higher than ₹2.46 crore in the previous fiscal.
Besides, he drew ₹7.87 crore from Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) —₹1.8 crore salary and ₹6.07 crore commission.
This compared with ₹6.8 crore he received from APSEZ in 2023-24.
Mr. Adani’s salary is lower than the heads of almost all large family-owned conglomerates in India.
While the richest Indian, Mukesh Ambani, has been foregoing his entire salary since COVID-19 broke out, prior to which he had capped his remuneration at ₹15 crore, Mr. Adani’s remuneration is much lower than telecom czar Sunil Bharti Mittal (₹32.27 crore in 2023-24), Rajiv Bajaj (₹53.75 crore in FY24), Pawan Munjal (₹109 crore in FY24), L&T Chairman S N Subrahmanyan (₹76.25 crore in FY25) and Infosys CEO Salil S Parekh (₹80.62 crore in FY25).
The latest annual reports of Mittal’s Bharti Airtel, Munjal’s Hero Motocorp and Bajaj Auto are yet to be released.
Just like other promoters, Mr. Adani also earns from dividends that the group companies may pay on earnings every year.
Salary earned by Mr. Adani is lower than at least a couple of chief executives of his group companies. AEL CEO Vinay Prakash got ₹69.34 crore. Prakash’s remuneration included ₹4 crore salary and ₹65.34 crore in perquisites, allowances and variable incentives “for exceptional operational and financial performance in the mining services and integrated resources management business of the company”.
Renewable energy firm Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) Managing Director Vneet S Jaain got ₹11.23 crore, while Group CFO Jugeshinder Singh earned ₹10.4 crore in FY25.
Adani’s son Karan received ₹7.09 crore from APSEZ, while the company CEO Ashwani Gupta earned ₹10.34 crore. Variable pay for FY25 in both Karan and Gupta’s case will be disbursed in FY26, the annual report said.
Gautam Adani’s younger brother, Rajesh earned Rs 9.87 crore from AEL while his nephew Pranav got Rs 7.45 crore. His other nephew Sagar took home ₹7.50 crore from AGEL.
City gas arm Adani Total Gas CEO Suresh P Manglani was paid ₹8.21 crore in remuneration for 2024-25 and Adani Energy Solutions CEO drew ₹14 crore salary.
Adani Power CEO SB Khayalia drew ₹9.16 crore salary in FY25.
Gautam Adani, who is worth $82.5 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, has been jostling with Ambani for the spot of the richest person in Asia. He became the richest Asian in 2022 but lost that position after a damning report by US short-seller Hindenburg Research wiped out almost $150 billion of the market value of his group stock at its lowest point in 2023.
He regained the top spot on two occasions last year but again ceded the position to Ambani.
Ambani is ranked 17th on the world’s richest list with a net worth of $104 billion. Adani is ranked 20th.
Published – June 08, 2025 11:01 am IST
