Tata Consumer CEO gets 21.8% pay hike as employee median salary rises 12%

Tata Consumer Products Managing Director and CEO Sunil D’Souza received a 21.8% increase in remuneration during FY26, according to the company’s latest annual report, released alongside disclosures showing a double-digit rise in median employee salaries and continued expansion in digital and AI hiring.

The report showed that employee median remuneration increased 12.1% during the financial year, while managerial remuneration rose 18.7%.

The compensation disclosures come at a time when Indian consumer and technology-linked businesses are increasingly investing in future-ready talent, including digital commerce, artificial intelligence and data-driven operations.

CEO remuneration crosses previous year levels

According to the annual report cited by Storyboard18, D’Souza received a salary of ₹11.52 crore in FY26.

His compensation package also included:

• Allowances and perquisites worth ₹3.92 crore
• Total allowances, perquisites and other benefits of ₹15.84 crore
• Contribution to retiral funds amounting to ₹40.01 lakh

In FY25, D’Souza had received:

• Salary of ₹9.46 crore
• Total allowances and benefits of ₹13.01 crore
• Allowances and perquisites of ₹3.19 crore

The annual report also disclosed compensation changes for other senior executives.

Executive Director and COO Ajit Krishnakumar recorded a 9.7% increase in remuneration during FY26, while Executive Director and President Beverages Sivakumar Sivasankaran saw remuneration rise 10.6%.

Employee salaries also increased during FY26

The company reported salary growth across employee categories during the financial year.

According to the annual report:

• Median employee remuneration rose 12.1%
• Average increase for employees excluding managerial personnel and unionised staff stood at 10.11%
• Average increase across all employees was 13.76%
• Managerial remuneration increased 18.7%

Tata Consumer Products had 4,558 permanent employees on its rolls as of March 31, 2026.

The disclosures provide insight into how the company balanced executive compensation growth alongside broader workforce salary increases during the year.

Company expands hiring across AI and digital functions

Beyond compensation, the annual report highlighted a wider workforce expansion strategy focused on digital capabilities and future-facing business functions.

Tata Consumer Products said it onboarded more than 650 professionals during FY26.

The company stated that hiring was concentrated in areas including:

• Sales operations
• E-commerce
• Category marketing
• Strategic procurement
• Digital functions
• Artificial intelligence roles

The hiring push reflects a broader shift among consumer-facing companies towards building internal technology, analytics and digital commerce capabilities.

The report said the company was strengthening “future-ready capabilities” across business verticals.

Internal hiring and attrition trends emerge

The annual report also provided details on internal mobility and employee retention metrics.

According to the filing:

• 23% of vacancies during FY26 were filled through Internal Job Posting (IJP) processes
• Employee attrition stood at 24%

The company has increasingly used internal mobility programmes to redeploy talent across expanding business functions while continuing external hiring in specialised areas.

Stock units granted to senior executives

Tata Consumer Products also disclosed fresh grants of performance stock units during the year.

According to the report:

• D’Souza received 59,822 performance stock units (PSUs)
• Krishnakumar received 9,391 PSUs
• Total PSU grants to the two executives stood at 69,213

The company’s non-executive and independent directors continued to receive compensation through sitting fees linked to board and committee meeting attendance.

The report stated that directors were paid:

• ₹30,000 per meeting for board, audit committee and nomination committee meetings
• ₹20,000 per meeting for other committee meetings

Non-executive directors on the board include Bharat Puri, Shikha Sharma, KP Krishnan and David Crean.

Consumer companies deepen focus on future-ready workforce

The annual report reflects how large consumer companies are increasingly repositioning themselves around digital infrastructure, AI-led operations and e-commerce growth.

While Tata Consumer Products remains rooted in packaged foods and beverages, the company’s latest hiring strategy suggests growing emphasis on technology-enabled business functions alongside traditional sales and supply chain operations.

The combination of rising executive compensation, workforce expansion and investment in digital talent also highlights how Indian consumer businesses are competing more aggressively for skilled professionals in AI, analytics and modern retail operations.