Mukesh Ambani to forego his salary of Rs 15 crore until impact of COVID-19 subsides

Reliance Industries announced its results for quarter 4 of the financial year 2019-20 and the company’s annual EBITDA has crossed Rs 100,000 crore mark for the first time. An annual revenue rise of 40.7% has been recorded for digital services and 24.8% for retail business. Nevertheless, the highlight of the announcement was that among other measures, Mukesh Ambani will not accept his salary until the impact of COVID-19 subsides.

“The Board approved Mukesh Ambani’s proposal to forego his entire salary until the impact of Covid-19 abates. In light of the COVID-19 outbreak in India, which has exacted a huge toll on the societal, economic and industrial health of the nation, Mukesh Ambani, the Chairman and Managing Director, has voluntarily decided to forego his entire salary,” said a statement from the company.

The chairman had his salary capped at Rs 15 crore since 2008-09, and now he is forgoing his salary until the company and all its businesses are fully back to their earnings potential. Apart from this the company is taking other necessary measures as well to optimize costs and mount an effective operational response to Covid-led exigencies.

In addition to the Facebook investment of Rs 43,574 crore into Jio Platforms, RIL has also received strong interest from other strategic and financial investors and is in good shape to announce a similar sized investment in the coming months, said the company.

“As India and the world grapple with the biggest challenge faced by our generation, I am heartened by the robust response of Reliance to the extraordinary circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Mukesh Ambani, on the results.

“Reliance is, and will continue to be, guided by this philosophy in India’s battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. We have been tirelessly working on a multi-pronged prevention, mitigation, and ongoing support strategy that is comprehensive, sustainable, and resilient. RIL has deployed the combined strengths of Reliance Foundation, Reliance Retail, Jio, Reliance Industries, and all the members of the Reliance Family in a well-coordinated manner with the efforts of both Government (at the central, state and local levels) and Civil Society in India. I take this opportunity to also commend the important contribution of all constituents of Indian industry and business to India’s national endeavour to overcome the corona calamity. Today I am pleased to announce that despite the daunting challenges arising from the fallout of the global pandemic, our company has once again delivered a resilient performance for FY 2019-20,” he added.