Keeping his promise to forgo salary, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani did not take home a penny in financial year 2021, the year that was ravaged by Covid-19 pandemic. Further, India’s richest man is unlikely to earn anything till the impact of the pandemic subsides.

Ambani’s salary and allowances, perquisites, retiral benefits and commission payable for the year was “nil”, according to RIL’s annual report for 2020-2021.

His annual salary from RIL was capped at ₹15 crore for 12th year in a row for the financial year ended March 31, 2020 and decided to voluntarily forego his complete remuneration in view of the pandemic. His salary and commission, among others, were stagnant at ₹15 crore since fiscal year 2008-09.

In light of the Covid-19 outbreak, which has exacted a huge toll on the societal, economic and industrial health of the nation, Ambani also decided not to draw salary or commission till the impact of Covid-19 subsides. Additionally, the company’s directors and senior leadership team had also agreed to forego 30-50 per cent of their compensation.

RIL Executive Directors Nikhil R. Meswani and Hital R. Meswani total take home was ₹24 crore for FY21, while that of Executive Director PMS Prasad was at ₹11.99 crore and Pawan Kumar Kapil’s stood at ₹4.24 crore. RIL’s non-executive directors took home a total of ₹17.15 crore, which included sitting fee and commission for the reporting year, with Yogendra P. Trivedi and Raghunath A. Mashelkar taking home ₹2.01 crore each, and Dipak C. Jain taking home ₹1.77 crore.

RIL added more than 75,000 jobs and hired more than 50,000 freshers during the “challenging year”.

The company now has a strong balance sheet with high liquidity that will support growth plans for its three hyper-growth engines, Jio, Retail and Oil-to-Chemicals, Ambani said in the report.