HDFC Bank Managing Director Aditya Puri has emerged as the highest paid banker among the top executives of leading lenders for FY2019-20, with his salary and prerequisites jumping to Rs 18.92 crore. Puri, who built the bank into the largest by assets in the private sector and also the most valued one by investors over the last 25 years, earned an additional Rs 161.56 crore by exercising stock options during the year, the bank's annual report said.

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The banker, who is set to retire in October this year on attaining the age of 70, had earned Rs 42.20 crore by exercising stock options in 2018-19.

In 2018-19 fiscal, his gross salary was Rs 13.65 crore.

A bank official said the RBI approved bonus for the performance year 2017-18 and 2018-19 in 2019-20.

"In effect, Puri got two years' bonus in one year. Hence the increase (in gross salary) appears to be 38 per cent. If we remove this, the increase is close to 20 per cent," the official said.

Its group head and "change agent" Sashidhar Jagdishan, who is reported to be among the selected candidates to succeed Puri, earned a salary of Rs 2.91 crore in FY20, as per the annual report.

Second largest private sector lender ICICI Bank's managing director and chief executive Sandeep Bakhshi's gross earnings stood at Rs 6.31 crore in his first full year as the head of the lender, the bank's annual report said.

Bakhshi, who took over in October 2018, had earned Rs 4.90 crore in FY19 as a part-year's payment, as per the lender's annual report.

Axis Bank's managing director and chief executive Amitabh Chaudhry was paid Rs 6.01 crore for FY20 as against Rs 1.27 crore for the last three months of FY19, as per the bank's annual report.

The third largest private sector lender's head of retail, Pralay Mondal, who resigned recently citing unspecified compulsions, earned a remuneration of Rs 1.83 crore in FY20. The former HDFC Bank and Yes Bank executive is headed to join south-based CSB Bank.

Kotak Mahindra Bank's managing director Uday Kotak, who owns 26 per cent in the lender, saw a reduction in his salary during the fiscal year.

He earned a gross salary of Rs 2.97 crore, which is an 18 per cent reduction from the year-ago period's Rs 3.52 crore, as per the annual report.

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It can be noted that the city-headquartered bank is among the few lenders who have announced a salary cut of 10 per cent for senior executive earnings over Rs 25 lakh per annum from May 2020 onward, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.