HCLTech’s CEO, C Vijayakumar, is presently the highest-paid IT CEO in India. His salary grew by 7.9% compared to the past financial year, and it is about 662.5 times the median employee pay. HCLTech is an Indian multinational company with over 1,67,316 employees, offering a wide range of products and services in the digital sector, including AI, cloud, and engineering solutions.
The company has recently reported an overall increment of 17.6% in the median employee pay and a 9.3% total revenue increase under the nine-year visionary leadership of C Vijayakumar. He is said to serve as the CEO and managing director of HCLTech starting from 1 September 2025.
The CEO’s annual pay during FY 2024-2025 stands at Rs. 94.6 crore with a base salary of Rs. 15.8 crore, a performance-linked bonus of Rs. 13.9 crore, restricted stock units valued at Rs. 56.9 crore, and an extra bonus of Rs. 1.7 crore.
With C Vijayakumar’s guidance, HCLTech went through constant evolution from FY 2016 to 2025. It grew with a whopping compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.3% - the highest growth rate compared to its competitors. Without interest and tax (EBIT), the CAGR stood at 8.1%, while the net income was 6.9%.
The number of high-value clients also grew quite dramatically. In FY16, the $100 million client count was 8, and by FY25, this number has increased to 22. Subsequently, the $50 million clients grew from 19 to 52, and the $20 million clients from 75 to 138. HCLTech ascribes this development to C Vijayakumar’s client-centric vision, strategic go-to-market approach, and vertical-led structure.
Also Read: HCLTech to Acquire HPE's Communication Tech Assets for $225M
Apart from C Vijayakumar, there are still IT CEOs in India who earn high salaries. Some of them include the CEO of TCS, K Krithivasan, with a salary of Rs. 26.5 crore in the financial year 2023 to 2024, accounting for a rise of 4.6% from the past year. The CEO of Infosys, Salil Parekh, with an annual salary of Rs. 80.6 crore, and lastly, Wipro’s new CEO, Srinivas Pallia, who joined in April 2025, earns Rs. 53.6 crore annually.
Also Read: Mark Zuckerberg Surpasses Jeff Bezos to Become World’s Third-Richest Person
Roshni Nadar, the Chairperson of HCLTech, said that “Technology evolution, driven by AI, is accelerating, and the IT services industry is at an inflection point,” while considering the company’s future and upcoming opportunities.