PM rules out any move to curb salaries of CEOs

In the midst of the debate over what salaries CEOs should be taking home, prime minister Manmohan Singh today ruled out any move to impose restrictions on their remuneration, saying it is best left to boards of companies.

"We still believe that the salaries are best determined by the boards of various companies and the government as such has no intention of imposing restrictions on CEOs' salaries," he said, replying to a question whether the government was concerned about salaries of CEOs.

"In my address to one of the meetings of CII, I had raised the issue in a general way," the prime minister said,adding the government has not taken any view on the issue.

The debate on the pay packets of industry honchos was triggered by remarks of corporate affairs minister Salman Khurshid who had said, "When we are working on this (austerity), we can hardly say that we (will) shut our eyes on what salary the CEOs are going to take."

Earlier, Singh met corporate bigwigs and prominent people from other walks of life in an interaction aimed at propagating the Congress-led government's achievements, ahead of the October 13 Maharashtra assembly polls.

To a query on several candidates, including many fielded by Congress, declaring assets of crores of rupees in their poll affidavits, Singh said, "this information is available to people. If there is any false declaration, the opportunity is available to people to challenge that."