SBI Chairman earned this much in FY23; public vs private bank salary debate resurfaces

SBI chairman Dinesh Khara's annual salary was Rs 37 lakh for FY23, according to SBI's annual report. This is an increase of about 7.5% compared to the previous year. The salary consisted of of a basic pay of Rs 27 lakh and a dearness allowance of Rs 9.99 lakh.

Meanwhile, this has reignited a debate over the disparity between the salary earned by Public Sector Bank employees and Private sector bank employees. Even though Khara earns 13.4% more than his predecessor Rajnish Kumar drew during FY21, Khara's salary is incomparable to his private bank peers.

As per Money Control, HDFC Bank CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan drew Rs 6.51 crore in FY22. While SBI chairman manages Rs 55.17 lakh crore worth of assets, Jagdishan manages a balance sheet less than half of SBI.

The highest paid private-bank chief in India is Axis bank's managing director and CEO Amitabh Chaudhary who drew a total of Rs 7.62 crore in annual salary in FY22.

In 2016, former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan has said that the top level salaries of public sector banks including that of RBI are way short of global standards. "One of the problems, of course, is that the public sector overpays at the bottom but underpays at the top. I also feel underpaid," Rajan had said.