The 2026 Director’s Pay and Governance Report
How are Boards being paid and are your governance practices evolving in line with India Inc.?
The 2026 Director’s Pay and Governance Report provides a comprehensive view of Director-level remuneration and Board governance practices across listed and unlisted Indian companies. Drawing on data from 7,000 companies and 63,000 individuals in executive and non-executive Director’s positions over a 9-year period (2016 to 2025), the report enables structured, peer-based analysis of how Boards are composed, compensated and governed.
It examines:
Trends in executive and non-executive Directors’ remuneration
Board composition, independence and governance structures
Pay architecture: fixed vs variable components
Variations across ownership types, market-cap sizes, and 40+ sectors and sub-sectors aligned with Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) definitions
Who It’s For
NRC Chairs, Board members and independent Director's benchmarking their pay and governance practices
Promoters, founders and senior management reviewing Board effectiveness and compensation design
CHROs, CFOs and remuneration committees setting Director’s pay with defensible peer benchmarks
Investors, advisors and governance professionals assessing Board quality, independence and oversight
Legal, compliance and secretarial teams tracking governance norms and emerging expectations
Why It’s Worth It
An essential, highly credible benchmarking tool for Boards and committees navigating rising scrutiny on Director’s pay and governance
Data that is grounded in a large, cross-sectoral sample of companies operating in India
Granular comparisons by sector, company size, ownership and company maturity
Decision-ready analysis to support remuneration committee discussions, shareholder scrutiny and regulatory alignment
A practical reference tool to inform Board design, pay structures and oversight decisions