Bharti Airtel has trimmed its average salary hikes for employees in FY25 to 8 per cent, down from 8.7 per cent in FY24, according to the company’s annual report. The moderation in increments comes despite a 10.4 per cent rise in consolidated revenue, which reached Rs 1.7 trillion for the year.
While employee hikes have slowed, top executives saw marginal increases. Gopal Vittal, vice chairman and managing director, received a 9 per cent pay hike, bringing his annual remuneration to Rs 20.2 crore. Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal’s salary rose modestly by 0.9 per cent to Rs 32.5 crore. Soumen Ray, CFO, received a 9.5 per cent raise to Rs 6.2 crore, a drop from the 13.7 per cent hike in the previous year.
The report also highlights a continued decline in median employee remuneration—excluding directors and top management. In FY25, median pay fell 3.95 per cent, following a 5.6 per cent drop in FY24. Male employees earned Rs 8.38 lakh on average, while female employees earned Rs 8.17 lakh, compared to Rs 8.61 lakh and Rs 9 lakh respectively in the previous year. Airtel attributed the dip to changes in workforce composition and internal movements rather than any policy shift.
The company spent Rs 6,309 crore on employee benefits in FY25, representing 3.6 per cent of its operational revenue. The employee base grew to 20,310 on-roll staff and 73,929 contractual workers, up from 19,198 and 65,446, respectively, in FY24.
Airtel also signalled a more measured approach to capital expenditure. After heavy 5G investments, the company spent Rs 30,300 crore in FY25, down from Rs 33,300 crore in FY24. Airtel has adopted a 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) architecture to save costs, but plans to transition to a Standalone (SA) network when market conditions mature.
Despite healthy cash flows, Airtel paid Rs 37,300 crore in license fees and Rs 28,900 crore toward spectrum obligations. Gopal Vittal, CEO, stressed the need for ‘tariff repair’ to ensure sustainable returns, calling for a relook at pricing in the telecom sector as smartphone upgrades and 5G adoption accelerate.
