Buoyed by the stellar financial performance in FY24, SUV and tractor heavyweight Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) saw 146 employees turn crorepatis in FY24 — a 30% growth from 500 crorepati employees in the previous financial year.
During the year ended March 31, the Mumbai-based company had 646 employees who received a salary of not less than Rs 1.02 crore.
The top management of M&M also saw a marked increase in payouts. Managing director and CEO Anish Shah trumped Tata Motors’ group chief financial officer PB Balaji to become the top-paid professional from the non-promoter category in the automotive sector.
Shah took home Rs 24.22 crore in FY24, a 47% increase compared with FY23. Rajesh Jejurikar, executive director and CEO (auto and farm sectors) saw a 51% remuneration rise in the same year to Rs 19.25 crore.
Both Shah and Jejurikar have been credited with the turnaround of M&M, which saw the company exiting several loss-making businesses and pushing production capacity higher following burgeoning demand for its sports utility vehicles (SUVs) locally.
M&M’s board had in May approved the reappointment of Shah, designated as group CEO and MD for a period of five years with effect from April 1, 2025. The board also reappointed Jejurikar with effect from April 1, 2025, till June 24, 2029.
M&M’s standalone performance during FY24 saw the company surpass the Rs 1-trillion milestone for the first time, marking a 17% increase against FY23. Its profit after tax surged 64% year-on-year (y-o-y) to Rs 10,718 crore during the same year.
The financial boost was a result of the 18% y-o-y jump in automotive volumes to nearly 825,000 during FY24, even as tractor volumes fell 7% y-o-y to 378,386 units during the same year.
As per M&M’s annual report, the automaker had 24,405 permanent employees and 44,009 temporary/casual/contractual employees as at the end of FY24.
M&M plans to invest Rs 26,000 crore in the automotive business in the next three years, including Rs 12,000 crore lined up for the electric vehicle (EV) business. The SUV business will get Rs 8,500 crore, while commercial vehicles (CVs) will get Rs 4,000 crore. A further Rs 5,000 crore will be invested in its farm equipment business.
M&M plans to introduce nine new internal combustion engine-powered SUVs, seven EVs and seven light CVs. The company aims to produce 200,000 EVs between 2027 and 2029 under its ‘Born Electric’ range.
