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What is Gautam Adani’s Salary in FY25?

Billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani earned ₹10.41 crore during the financial year 2024–25, marking a 12 percent increase from his previous year’s remuneration. The updated figures, disclosed in the annual reports of the listed Adani Group companies, offer a fascinating glimpse into the compensation structure of one of India’s most influential business leaders.

Despite chairing a sprawling ports-to-energy conglomerate, Adani’s annual earnings remain relatively conservative compared to many of his peers in the Indian corporate landscape. Several other top executives within the Adani Group also earned more than the group chairman himself.

Breakdown of Adani’s FY25 Compensation

Adani drew his remuneration from two of the nine listed companies under the Adani Group umbrella—Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ). From AEL, he earned ₹2.26 crore in fixed salary and ₹28 lakh in perquisites and allowances. APSEZ contributed the larger share, with ₹7.87 crore, including ₹1.8 crore in salary and a hefty ₹6.07 crore in commission.

In the previous fiscal year (FY24), Adani received ₹2.54 crore from AEL and ₹6.8 crore from APSEZ, summing up to ₹9.26 crore. His FY25 earnings thus reflect a ₹1.15 crore increase, driven largely by higher commissions.

This rise in earnings, though notable, aligns more with moderate executive packages than with headline-making paychecks often associated with India’s billionaires. Gautam Adani, now 62, has consistently drawn a modest salary from his companies, even as his business empire has expanded across infrastructure, green energy, data centers, airports, and more.

Comparison With Industry Leaders

Adani’s relatively modest pay becomes even more apparent when stacked against other Indian business magnates. Sunil Bharti Mittal of Bharti Airtel earned ₹32.27 crore in FY24. Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director of Bajaj Auto, received ₹53.75 crore. Pawan Munjal, Chairman of Hero MotoCorp, drew a staggering ₹109 crore. In FY25, SN Subrahmanyan, Chairman and Managing Director of Larsen & Toubro, took home ₹76.25 crore, while Salil Parekh, CEO and MD of Infosys, earned ₹80.62 crore.

Interestingly, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries and India’s richest man, has not accepted a salary since the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, Ambani had voluntarily capped his compensation at ₹15 crore annually.

In this elite circle, Adani’s ₹10.41 crore compensation appears highly conservative. His income ranks well below that of many of his contemporaries, suggesting a symbolic preference for limiting personal remuneration.

Group Executives Outpace Adani

Despite leading the Adani Group, Gautam Adani lags behind several of his own executives when it comes to annual compensation.

  • Vinay Prakash, CEO of Adani Enterprises Ltd, emerged as the group’s highest-paid executive, earning ₹69.34 crore. His package included ₹4 crore in base salary and ₹65.34 crore in perquisites and performance-based incentives.

  • Vneet S Jaain, Managing Director of Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL), drew ₹11.23 crore, while Jugeshinder Singh, Group CFO, earned ₹10.4 crore.

At Adani Ports, CEO Ashwani Gupta received ₹10.34 crore, slightly surpassing Adani’s own earnings. Gautam Adani’s elder son Karan Adani, Executive Director at APSEZ, earned ₹7.09 crore. Variable compensation for both Gupta and Karan is scheduled for disbursement in FY26, which could potentially push their total earnings higher.

Compensation Among Family Members

Multiple members of the Adani family have emerged as high earners within the group. Gautam Adani’s younger brother Rajesh Adani received ₹9.87 crore from AEL. His nephew Pranav Adani, a key strategist within the group, drew ₹7.45 crore, and Sagar Adani, a senior executive at Adani Green, earned ₹7.50 crore.

This trend of high executive compensation within family ranks suggests a deliberate strategy by the group to retain talent and leadership continuity within the family, without necessarily concentrating the largest paychecks on the group chairman.

Wealth and Past Market Volatility

As of now, Gautam Adani’s net worth stands at $82.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. He briefly claimed the title of Asia’s richest person in 2022, outpacing Mukesh Ambani after a meteoric rise in the share prices of Adani Group companies. However, his fortunes took a significant hit in 2023 when Hindenburg Research, a U.S.-based short-seller, published a scathing report accusing the group of stock manipulation and accounting fraud.

Although the Adani Group vehemently denied the allegations and took steps to rebuild investor trust, the damage impacted market valuations across its listed companies. Gautam Adani lost over $50 billion in net worth during that period. Still, by mid-2024, he briefly reclaimed the top spot in Asia’s billionaire rankings on two separate occasions.

Despite these fluctuations, Adani’s net worth remains deeply tied to the market performance of the group’s publicly listed companies. His equity stake and strategic holdings across various verticals provide him with immense financial leverage even if his annual salary remains modest.

Corporate Strategy Behind Lean Pay

Adani’s lean compensation reflects a broader philosophy that prioritizes long-term value creation over short-term personal gain. By drawing limited remuneration, he signals confidence in his leadership and aligns his fortunes with shareholder interests. This approach also contrasts starkly with the often-criticized culture of excessive executive pay in both India and abroad.

Moreover, Adani has focused intensely on expanding the group’s global footprint and investing in capital-intensive infrastructure projects. These ventures require strong optics on corporate governance and fiscal prudence, especially when seeking foreign institutional investment.

The restrained salary also supports his image as a hands-on industrialist who builds businesses for scale rather than personal wealth extraction. That reputation plays a crucial role in negotiations with governments, regulatory bodies, and international investors.

The Larger Picture: Reputation and Responsibility

Adani’s decision to limit his own compensation—even while the group expands across new sectors like green hydrogen, data centers, and global ports—reflects his awareness of broader reputational implications. In a post-Hindenburg era, investor scrutiny has increased. Executive pay often serves as a barometer for governance standards, particularly when family-run businesses scale globally.

While the group’s executives and family members continue to draw high salaries, Gautam Adani appears to maintain a more symbolic, strategic role in terms of earnings. His compensation structure places him closer to the conservative model seen with Mukesh Ambani than with the high-earning technocrats and CEOs populating India’s top corporate boards.

Conclusion

Gautam Adani earned ₹10.41 crore in FY25—a 12 percent rise from the previous year. Though this increase indicates stronger financial performance within the Adani Group, it still positions him as a relatively underpaid figure among India’s top industrialists.

Executives within his own group, as well as peers in rival companies, earned significantly more during the same period. However, Adani continues to lead by example, prioritizing long-term vision, capital expansion, and fiscal discipline over maximizing his own take-home pay.

In doing so, Gautam Adani strengthens his brand as a builder—one who values business legacy, global credibility, and sustainable leadership over personal financial headlines.

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