
HDFC Bank has proposed annual target compensation of Rs 35.9 crore for incoming MD and CEO Anup Bagchi, potentially making him India’s highest-paid bank chief. The package includes Rs 8.97 crore in fixed pay and Rs 26.92 crore in target variable pay, of which Rs 18.04 crore is linked to shares.

Bagchi will also receive a one-time joining bonus of about Rs 7.35 crore in share-linked instruments, separate from his annual package. The variable payout will depend on performance and require approval from HDFC Bank’s remuneration committee, its board and the Reserve Bank of India. Business Standard puts outgoing CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan’s FY26 remuneration at Rs 28.65 crore, while CNBC-TV18 reports about Rs 15.3 crore in cash and other remuneration, excluding stock options. Bagchi is scheduled to take charge on 27 October for a three-year term.
Both reports treat the proposal as a pay comparison, but CNBC-TV18 foregrounds Bagchi’s place above other bank CEOs, while Business Standard gives more detail on the package structure, benefits and approval conditions. Their figures for Jagdishan differ because they use different measures: Business Standard includes stock-option benefits, while CNBC-TV18 excludes them. Neither presents the proposed amount as guaranteed, since variable pay depends on performance and approvals. The immediate next step is Bagchi’s scheduled charge on 27 October.
Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral
Sources (2): cnbctv18.com (neutral report), business-standard.com (neutral report)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Methodology and corrections.