ITC Ltd on Friday said its Compensation Committee of the board of directors granted 3,39,119 stock options to eligible employees of the company and its subsidiaries .

The options included those granted to non-executive directors of the company, deputy secretary RK Singhi said.

The meeting to this effect was held on Wednesday. The exercise price was fixed at Rs. 779.95 per option, he said.

The number of ordinary shares covered by the option granted was 3,39,119 shares with vesting period of one to three years from the date of grant of the option.

Exercise period would begin from the date of vesting and would expire at the end of five years from the date of grant, Mr. Singhi said.

ITC shareholders had approved two special resolutions providing for allotment of stock options to employees in an extra-ordinary general meeting convened on January 17.

"We view stock options as an instrument to synergise the interest of employees with those of the shareholders by creating a common sense of purpose in building sustainable shareholder value", ITC Chairman YC Deveshwar had said.

"The company believes that an employee stock option scheme (Esop) is an effective strategy to attract and retain the best talent in an increasingly competitive business environment", Mr. Deveshwar said.

As stock options have only recently been introduced India, ITC had decided that the coverage would be initially confined to 80 directors and senior managers of the company and its 14 subsidiaries.

It was decided that the board might consider extending coverage to other levels of management later, based on the experience gained. The total number of shares to be issued under the scheme was decided would not cross 5 per cent of the issued and subscribed share capital of the company as on March 31, 2000.

The exercise was at the closing market price of the company’s shares on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on the date of grant.