Larsen & Toubro chairman and managing director S N Subrahmanyan has emerged as one of India’s highest-paid corporate leaders in FY26, with total earnings crossing the ₹100 crore mark.
His latest disclosure comes more than a year after his controversial comments on long working hours sparked widespread criticism.
For FY2025–26, Subrahmanyan’s total remuneration stood at ₹120.84 crore, covering salary, perquisites, ESOP-related benefits, retirement payouts, and commission. His base salary was ₹4.32 crore, while perquisites added ₹3.63 crore and ESOP-linked benefits ₹16.72 crore. Retirement benefits were ₹21.36 crore and commission formed the largest share at ₹74.80 crore.
This represents a sharp 59% jump from FY25, when his total pay was ₹76.24 crore, already placing him among the top-paid executives in the country. His compensation is also about 1,016 times the median L&T employee salary of ₹11.89 lakh per year.
A major reason for the spike is the large commission payout, along with ESOP gains and retirement-linked components.
Compared to other top CEOs, HCLTech’s C Vijayakumar earned around ₹84–85 crore, Infosys CEO Salil Parekh received ₹80.62 crore, while Tech Mahindra’s Mohit Joshi and Wipro’s Srinivas Pallia earned about ₹54 crore each. TCS CEO K Krithivasan received over ₹28 crore, placing him lower on the list.
Subrahmanyan had drawn controversy in January 2025 during an employee interaction when he defended long working hours, even suggesting a 90-hour work week. His remarks about employees working on Sundays and comments questioning time spent at home triggered strong backlash online.
Following the uproar, L&T clarified that its focus remains on nation building and contributing to India’s infrastructure and industrial growth, framing its work culture discussion within that broader mission.
