Is the actual cost only 160 Cr? 160 Cr is today’s value of the stock. By the time it is exercised, it might even be 3x or 5x that. 160 Cr is about one-third of the total employee cost as well. So in addition to making EBITDA and PAT look better, it also skews the valuation. I remember reading a complete chapter on the real cost of ESOPs in Munger’s Poor Charlie’s Alamanack. It is fascinating how these small accounting trickery can make the P/L look rosy and make the EPS go up little by little while the real cost is hidden from plain sight.
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