By Saloni Shukla
Copyright indiatimes
AgenciesAbout 200 board meetings post-derivatives crisis boost sitting fees, with some earning 3x over last year’s
MUMBAI: Directors of IndusInd Bank got an earnings boost in FY25 following a sharp increase in board and committee meetings after the private lender disclosed discrepancies in its derivatives portfolio.Chairman Sunil Mehta earned Rs 96.25 lakh in sitting fees during FY25, more than doubling from Rs 47.95 lakh in the year before. This payout is in addition to Mehta’s Rs 30-lakh fixed annual remuneration, which remained unchanged, showed the bank’s FY25 annual report. Mehta’s three-year term is set to end on January 30, 2026. People familiar with the matter told ET that between March and August 2025, the board is understood to have convened 180-200 meetings, significantly higher than in the same period last year. In several instances, extended sessions were marked as fresh meetings rather than continuations, leading to the higher payouts, the people noted.Board member Pradeep Udhas, senior advisor at KPMG, took home Rs 84 lakh in sitting fees in FY25, a more than threefold jump from Rs 25.20 lakh in FY24. Another board member, Bhavna Doshi, former senior advisor at KPMG, earned Rs 74.75 lakh, a 79% rise from Rs 41.65 lakh in FY24.Responding to ET’s queries, IndusInd Bank said the board had collectively discharged its fiduciary responsibilities to fully safeguard the interests of the bank and its stakeholders amid the extraordinary and unusual circumstances that arose following the disclosures on March 10, 2025.”Following the exit of most of the designated key managerial personnel, the operations of the bank were actively overseen by an oversight committee of the board, as directed by the regulator,” the bank said. “As to remuneration and sitting fees, all payments are in full accordance within the existing limits, approved by the shareholders and prescribed under regulations.”Live Events”Any allegations and insinuations to the contrary are completely repugnant, ill-informed, and baseless. The Bank rejects them outright,” it said.IndusInd directors are paid Rs 1 lakh for attending each board meeting and Rs 75,000 for each board committee meeting. Among the other board members, Akila Krishnakumar, former country head at SunGard, earned Rs 66.50 lakh as sitting fees in FY25, a 64% surge from Rs 40.6 lakh in the year before. Another board member, Rajiv Agarwal earned Rs 60.25 lakh, a 70% rise from Rs 35.55 lakh in FY24.Jayant Deshmukh earned Rs 45 lakh as sitting fees in FY25, up 79% from Rs 25.2 lakh in the previous year.Rakesh Bhatia, who joined the IndusInd board in FY25, earned Rs 90 lakh in sitting fees during the year, making him among the highest-paid directors in terms of meeting-related payouts. Sudip Basu earned Rs 62.25 lakh in sitting fees in FY25, reflecting the sharp rise in board and committee meetings during the year.In terms of meetings, the board convened 31 times in FY25, up from 21 in FY24. The audit committee met 30 times, compared with 25 in the previous year, while compensation committee held 15 meetings versus 12 earlier. The risk management committee saw the sharpest jump, meeting 14 times in FY25 against just five in FY24.Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now!
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