Rs 82,60,00,000: Infosys' Parek Highest Paid IT CEO, Wipro's Pallia Follows

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) remained India's biggest software exporter in FY26. It generated the highest revenue. It posted the highest profit. Yet when it came to CEO pay, TCS found itself at the bottom of the country's IT pecking order.

Annual report disclosures from India's top technology companies show a striking contrast between corporate performance and executive compensation.

Infosys Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Salil Parekh emerged as the highest-paid CEO among the country's top IT firms, taking home Rs 82.6 crore during FY26. Wipro CEO and Managing Director Srinivas Pallia followed with Rs 49.6 crore. TCS CEO and Managing Director K Krithivasan, despite leading the industry's largest company, received Rs 28 crore.

The numbers highlight how executive compensation in the technology sector is influenced by far more than revenue and profits alone. Stock-linked rewards, performance incentives and long-term wealth creation plans played a decisive role in widening the gap.

Parekh Leads the Pay Charts

Parekh's FY26 remuneration was nearly three times Krithivasan's pay package.

According to Infosys' annual report, his compensation included fixed pay of Rs 7.97 crore, retirement benefits of Rs 0.53 crore and variable pay of Rs 8.5 crore. The biggest contributor, however, came from stock-linked rewards. Parekh received stock-based incentives worth Rs 23.35 crore and gains of Rs 50.75 crore from exercised stock awards.

The company said he exercised more than 3.37 lakh restricted stock units granted under its employee stock plans during the year.

The board also approved fresh stock grants tied to business performance, shareholder returns and environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals.

Wipro CEO Earns More Than TCS Chief

Wipro's Srinivas Pallia received total compensation of Rs 49.6 crore in FY26, making him the second-highest-paid CEO among the top three IT services firms.

While his remuneration was lower than the Rs 53.6 crore earned in FY25, Pallia still took home significantly more than his counterpart at TCS.

His compensation package included salary and allowances of about Rs 15.5 crore, variable pay and commission of nearly Rs 9.9 crore, other compensation of around Rs 23.3 crore and deferred compensation benefits of about Rs 1 crore.

The decline from the previous year was largely due to lower performance-linked payouts. Variable compensation dropped from Rs 14.5 crore in FY25 to Rs 9.9 crore in FY26.

TCS CEO's Pay Rises, But Remains Lowest

Krithivasan's remuneration increased 6.3 per cent year-on-year to Rs 28 crore.

TCS said the package consisted of basic salary of Rs 1.67 crore, benefits and allowances of Rs 1.43 crore and a performance-linked commission of Rs 25 crore.

The company noted that the CEO's remuneration was equivalent to 332.8 times the median employee pay. During the year, median employee remuneration rose 5.1 per cent, while salary hikes for junior and mid-level employees in India ranged between 4.5 per cent and 7 per cent.

The Business Performance Gap

The compensation rankings become even more interesting when viewed against company performance.

TCS continued to dominate the sector with revenue of Rs 2.67 lakh crore and a net profit of Rs 49,210 crore in FY26.

Infosys reported revenue of Rs 1.79 lakh crore and net profit of Rs 29,440 crore. The company also generated free cash flow of Rs 33,097 crore and maintained an operating margin of 20.3 per cent.

Wipro remained much smaller in scale, reporting revenue of Rs 92,620 crore and net income of Rs 13,200 crore. However, the company saw strong momentum in deal wins. Large deal bookings surged 45.4 per cent to $7.8 billion, while total bookings rose 14 per cent to $16.4 billion.

The numbers underline the vast difference in scale among India's top software exporters. TCS generated roughly Rs 88,000 crore more revenue than Infosys and nearly three times Wipro's revenue during the year.

Chairmen Opted Out

The annual reports also revealed that some of the industry's most prominent leaders chose not to draw substantial compensation.

Infosys Chairman Nandan Nilekani did not receive remuneration from the company during FY26.

At TCS, Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran continued his long-standing practice of not accepting commission from the company. He received only Rs 4.2 lakh as sitting fees during the year.

More Than Just Revenue

The FY26 disclosures show that being the largest company does not automatically translate into the highest-paid CEO.

TCS remained India's undisputed leader in revenue and profitability. Yet its chief executive earned far less than both Parekh at Infosys and Pallia at Wipro.

The difference came down largely to one factor: stock-linked rewards. While Krithivasan's compensation was driven mainly by salary and performance incentives, a substantial portion of Parekh's earnings came from stock awards and exercised equity grants.

In India's technology sector, the biggest paydays are increasingly being shaped not by the size of the company, but by the structure of executive compensation.