Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani decided to forgo his entire compensation as the company decided to cut salaries of some of its employees in the hydrocarbon division.
The RIL has announced salary cut by 10 per cent in view of the ‘adverse impact’ of the COVID19 pandemic on fuel demand.
Besides Ambani, the company’s board of directors, including executive directors and executive committee members, will also forgo 30-50 pc of their salary.
This has come to light in a letter signed by Reliance Industries executive director Hital R Meswani.
The company also announced deferment of performance-linked payments for its employees in the hydrocarbon business.
The decision of the RIL comes following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to the industry not to cut jobs even as companies struggle due to the crisis created by the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown.
A media report quoted executive director Hital Meswani saying in his letter: “The hydrocarbon business has been adversely impacted due to reduction in demand for refined products and petrochemicals.”
“This has of course put pressure on a hydrocarbons business necessitating optimisation and cost reduction across all fronts. The situation demands that we maintain a razor sharp focus on operating cost and fixed costs and all of us need to contribute to make this happen,” Meswani added.
It has been reported that in the hydrocarbon business, salaries of those earning less than Rs 15 lakh a year has been left unchanged.
However, those employees with compensation higher than Rs 15 lakhs per year will have a 10 per cent reduction in fixed pay.