MUMBAI: Increasing automation and cost cutting coupled with a surge in protectionism across much of the globe may have hit overall hiring at most companies in India but the corner office seems to be insulated from this trend. RGF Executive Search hired a chief executive office for an undisclosed automotive company earlier this month, offering him an annual package of $1.80 million (about Rs 12 crore) jump of nearly 50% from his compensation in the United States. Similarly, in February, a largeIndian conglomerate in the chemicals sector hired a CEO from Europe at a salary of Rs. 12 crore, in addition to Rs. 3 crore sign-on bonus.Such salaries are rare in India, where CEOs are usually hired at Rs. 5-6 crores, stocks and long-term incentives, but experts said these appointments point to the increasing demand for senior executives who can helm expanding businesses and lead companies into the future.New hires are being paid 30-50 per cent more than last year, according to a half-dozen executive search firms including Korn/Ferry, & Struggles and demand for CEOs has shot up 30-40 per cent in the past six months despite a lull for two-three months following the government’s decision to withdraw high-value currency notes in November last year.Experts said the demand has grown due to a strong pro-growth message from the government, overall positive economic signals andcapacity building across multiple sectors.“Companies in India today are willing to pay just any amount to get the right person to head their businesses,” said R Suresh, former managing director of RGF Executive Search, who stepped down last week to become an independent advisor to large companies. “CEOs are hired with a clear agenda and the linkage to performance is increasingly higher,” he said. “A number of large companies are going through a change because the size has increased and they have huge global plans.”Many of the new recruits are from countries where people have social security and if that is valued in Indian terms companies have to pay a 50-60% salary increase in some cases, said Suresh.Korn/Ferry International’s managing director for India Navnit Singh said the business environment is improving given the government’s intention of getting things done. “There are 35 airports that will get modernised. There is huge spends on roads. There are global real estate funds coming in. Companies are gearing up to get their senior management ready for tomorrow, which is driving the demand for CEOs,” he said.Search firms said they have done the maximum number of CEO hires for large companies ($1billion plus) in recent months in the backdrop of rapid scaling up and focus on global expansion. Besides, unlike earlier, private equity players are buying large companies and hiring CEOs for their portfolio companies to add to management bandwidth, they said.Those hiring include infrastructure and manufacturing (particularly automotive and auto component) and private equity-backed companies. Private equity players are involved in a spate of fresh investments, primarily in consumer-led businesses. Capital equipment, general manufacturing, transportation and logistics are the other major drivers.“Demand is far outstripping supply, which is the reason why CEO compensation has gone up,” said Atul Vohra, managing partner of executive search firm Transearch India. “We are even now running nine to 10 CEO searches, which is huge,” he said.Arun Das Mahapatra, partner in charge of Heidrick & Struggles in India, said a CEO at a fairly large-sized component manufacturer would be getting Rs. 2.5 crore now, compared to about Rs. 2 crore last year, especially given the fact that there is a talent crunch in this sector. Sonal Agrawal, managing partner at Accord Group India, said that digital, non-banking finance companies, real estate and manufacturing are leading the pack in terms of searches and there is a reasonable amount of traction in the consumer and private equity sectors as well.In multinational companies and in sectors such as FMCG and consumer goods, CEO salaries are about Rs. 5-6 crore a year, according to experts, who said a lot more money is being put on the table as performance incentive and equity. Perform or perish is the mantra for the incoming CEOs. Companies are strongly binding the CEOs to performance and calculation of performance is now marked to market. Hence adding to the demand are companies that are going in for replacement hiring.K Sudarshan, regional partner-Asia at EMA Partners, cited the case of a large food company that recently replaced its head, who had been with the company for five years and led it when it incurred a loss of Rs. 150 crore, and brought in a younger and more dynamic executive with fresh ideas in an attempt to turn around the business.