L&T Chief Subrahmanyan Receives 534.57 Times More Salary Than His Employees' Median Pay; Check Details

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Chairman S N Subrahmanyan, who is under intense scrutiny following his comment urging employees to work 90 hours a week including Sundays, received a total of Rs 51 crore in the financial year 2023-24. According to reports, his salary was 534.57 times higher than the median salary of the employees of L&T.

Subrahmanyan’s Rs 51 crore take-home salary is as compared with the median remuneration of Rs 9.55 lakh for L&T employees in the year 2023-24.

Subrahmanyan’s remuneration during the year 2023-24 included a base salary of Rs 3.6 crore, Rs 1.67 crore as prerequisites, and Rs 35.28 crore as commission. He also received retirement benefits of Rs 10.5 crore, bringing the total to Rs 51 crore.

His salary has increased 14.43 per cent every year (CAGR) in the past 10 years. In 2014, his salary had stood at Rs 13.26 crore, which jumped to Rs 51.05 crore in 2024.

This is much higher than the CAGR growth of 6.93 per cent in employees’ media salary in the past 10 years. Between 2014 and 2024, the employees’ salary has increased from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 9.77 lakh.

Controversy Following Subrahmanyan’s Comments

L&T Chairman S N Subrahmanyan came under intense critisism on the internet after he suggested employees to work 90 hours a week and said “I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays”.

He took it further by questioning employees’ time spent at home. “How long can you stare at your wife?” he asked, urging employees to spend less time at home and prioritise work. Addressing why employees are required to work on Saturdays, Subrahmanyan expressed regret that Sundays couldn’t also be mandated as working days.

“I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays. If I can make you work on Sundays, I will be more happy because I work on Sundays,” he said in a video now circulating on Reddit.

Following the controversy, L&T issued a statement defending its chairman’s remarks.

It said, “The chairman’s remarks reflect this larger ambition, emphasising that extraordinary outcomes require extraordinary effort.”

“At L&T, nation-building is at the core of our mandate. For over eight decades, we have been shaping India’s infrastructure, industries, and technological capabilities. We believe this is India’s decade, a time demanding collective dedication and effort to drive progress and realise our shared vision of becoming a developed nation,” the company said.