STUDY ESOP’S IN INDIAN CONTEXT &

RELATE TO PROFITABILITY.

A Submission made by: - SHUBHAM

1764
B.A LL.B {Hons.}

A Submission submitted to:- Dr. Manoj Mishra

A Research work submitted in complete fulfilment for the course

titled (ECONOMICS-I) for attaining the degree B.A LL.B {Hons.}.

September,2018

CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

NYAYA NAGAR, MITHAPUR
PATNA-800001

1
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the work reported in the B.A. LL.B {Hons.} Project Report entitle
“STUDY ESOP’S IN INDIAN CONTEXT AND RELATE TO PROFITABILITY”
submitted at Chanakya National Law University, Patna is an authentic record of my work
carried out under the supervision of Dr. Manoj Mishra I have not submitted this work
elsewhere for any other degree or diploma. I am fully responsible for the contents of my
Project Report.

(Signature of the Candidate)

SHUBHAM

Chanakya National Law University, Patna.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Manoj Mishra for his invaluable support,
guidance and advice. I would also like to thank my friends who have always been there to
support me and last but not the least I would also like to thank the library staff for working
long hours to facilitate us with required material going a long way in quenching our thirst for
education.

---- SHUBHAM

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION……………………………………………….05

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY……………………………….6-7

CHAPTER-1……………………………………………………...8-9

CHAPTER-2……………………………………………………..10-12

CHAPTER-3……………………………………………………..13-14

CHAPTER-4……………………………………………………..15-16

CHAPTER-5……………………………………………………..17-19

CONCLUSION…………………………………………………..20

BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………..21

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 INTRODUCTION

ESOP stands for Employee Stock Ownership Plan. ESOPs, like other employee benefit plans,
offer advantages to business owners, companies, and employees alike.

An ESOP is a retirement plan designed to provide employees with an ownership interest in

the company by investing primarily in stock of the employer. ESOPs are unlike other
retirement plans, which typically diversify their holdings by investing in a variety of assets.
The ESOP is funded with tax-deductible contributions by the employer, which can be in the
form of company stock, or in cash which is used to purchase company stock. An ESOP
operates through a trust, under the direction of a trustee or other named fiduciary.

ESOPs must be specifically designated as an ESOP in the plan document, and must comply
with special ESOP requirements of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

An ESOP is a qualified, de ned contribution employee bene t plan that invests primarily in
the stock of the employer company. ESOPs are “qualified” (i.e., tax-qualified) in that in
return for meeting certain rules designed to protect the interests of plan participants, ESOP
sponsors receive various tax benefits. ESOPs are “de ned contribution plans.” e employer
makes yearly discretionary contributions that accumulate to produce a bene t that is not de
ned in advance. In contrast, under de ned bene t plans (like traditional pension plans),
employees are guaranteed a specified benefit funded by the company through required
contributions.

Technically, an ESOP is simply a variation of a stock bonus plan or combination stock

bonus/money purchase pension plan that is designed to in- vest primarily in employer stock.
(Under a stock bonus plan, the employer pays out an employee bene t in the form of company
stock. Money purchase pension plans are retirement-oriented plans that commit the company
to a minimum annual contribution.) An ESOP is the only type of qualified employee bene t
plan that can also borrow money from or on the credit of the employer, provided the ESOP
uses the money to buy employer stock.

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 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Aims and Objectives:

The aim of this research paper is to present a detailed study on Employees Stock Option
Plan.

Scope and Limitations:

The researcher has used the doctrinal method and has relied on the secondary sources for the
content of the research paper.

Owing to the large number of topics that could be included in the project, the scope of this
research paper is exceedingly vast. However in the interest of brevity, this paper has been
limited to the topics which deal with economical aspect of the topic only.

Research Questions:

The two research questions are as follows:

1. What is the purpose of ESOP ? 


2. What is the impact of ESOP ? 


Hypothesis:

1. To know the concept of ESOP used by companies as a scheme.

2. To know that how it serves two fold purpose for both employee and the
company.
3. To investigate how the employee becomes a shareholder in the company
through ESOP.

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Sources of data :

The researcher has relied on the following secondary sources of data:

• Books


• Websites

• Articles

Method of Writing :

The method of writing followed in this project is both analytical and descriptive.

Mode of Citation :

The researcher has followed a uniform mode of citation in this project.

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 CHAPTER-1
Concept of Employees Stock Option/Ownership Plans:

Generally, an employee gets paid for job done by him and hence his focus is on completing
his job and getting the remuneration. Here, the employee does not bother about the progress
of the company and all of his focus lies on his personal performance. This is so because
generally his remuneration is fixed and not going to be affected by the performance of the
company. There exist an implied barrier between the employer and his employees and this
barrier is actually a hindrance in development of the company. So, it was required that the
employer and employee should have common goal and that goal should be the overall
development of the company which ultimately will benefit both of them i.e. the employer as
well as the employees. For this, active participation of Employees was very much required
and to ensure that, the concept of Employees Stock Option/Ownership Plan was
introduced.

This is a scheme under which the companies sell their shares to the employees by the virtue
of which, the employees are entitled to hold certain small level of ownership in that very
company, where they are employed. This small amount of ownership actually benefits the
company in a very large prospect. Now, the employees know it very well that their fate
depends upon the fate of the company and this very mindset helps in the development of the
company. As discussed earlier, there is a need to engage the employees in the activities of the
company as if it is their company and ESOPs serve this purpose very well.

Under ESOPs, the employees are being provide with the following rights-

*They can purchase a certain number of shares in the company on a predetermined

rate and 
 after a predetermined period. 


*Helps the employee in retaining the company and in assuring a good performance in
the 
 work so assigned.
 ESOPs serves two fold purpose:
 Actually, ESOPs are
assigned to the employees on the basis of their performance as well as their tenure in
the company. So, it works efficiently on both sides. 


 


8



*Before, the assignment of the stocks, it works as a tool for motivating the employee
to get the same and hence increases his productivity. 


*After the assignment of stocks, now there automatically lies a responsibility on the
shoulders of the employees because they know that their labour and contribution will
decide the fate of company and ultimately will affect their position. 
 The ESPOs are
being offered by the companies in certain parts and as per a schedule.
 For eg:- An
employee may be offered 5000 shares, given in sets of 1000 or even 500, over a
period of time. There is a fixed time period within which the employees can buy the
shares by exercising their rights and the time period is known as vesting period. The
offer to buy the given number of shares will lapse if not utilized within the vesting
period. Sometimes, this period is also termed as the lock-in period.


 Origin : Actually, this concept was mainly introduced by startups because they did
not had enough capital to grant various compensations to their employees, and in
order to encourage and retain their employees, they started to provide them with share
in the company which actually worked in overall growth. 
 IT companies were very
quick to adopt this scheme after its introduction in India but now other sectors are also
realizing its importance and hence this concept is finding its applicability in various
sectors.


NOTE:- It is very important to mention here that this facility is optional on the part of
employees i.e. they are not obliged to buy the share if they are offered the same, they
can very well reject the offer. 


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 CHAPTER-2

TYPES OF ESOPs

When it comes to classification of ESOPs, they can broadly be classified into two types:-

 Compensatory Plan and,

 Non Compensatory Plan.

Compensatory Plan – In this category, the employees are compensated for the services they
rendered. Actually, they are compensated through issuance of shares of a certain
value.
 These plans are effective for those companies which are fast growing knowledge
based companies and which usually do not pay very large salaries to the employees.

Non Compensatory Plan – Under this category, no such compensation is being provided as
such. Here, the basic purpose is to diversify the ownership of the company and include more
and more employees along with the purpose to increase the capital of the company.
 Under
this plan, the shares can be in the future at the market price on the date of exercise/vesting.

A Nonleveraged ESOP

1. Company contributes cash and/or stock to ESOP.

2. If cash was contributed, ESOP buys stock from shareholders and/or company.

3. Employees receive vested account balances (in stock and/or cash) when they retire or
otherwise leave the company.

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 Various Stock Options Schemes:-

Employee Stock Option Scheme

This Employee Stock Option Scheme is actually a right to buy the shares of the company on
a price already fixed. The options provided under this scheme do not inflict any such
obligation on the employee to buy the share but merely provides them with the liberty to do
so.
 These options are subject to vesting which in turn requires a continuous service for a
specified period of time. After vesting, the employees have a chance to buy the shares if they
want to buy them.

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Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Under this plan, the employees are given a chance to buy the shares of the company often on
a discount on Fair Market Value at grant or on exercise.
 The plan term actually determines
that on which date and on what price, the employees are entitled to purchase the company
stock.

Stock Appreciation Right/ Phantom Equity Plan

Under this plan, the employees are allotted notional shares/ units at an already fixed price.
Whenever the employee fulfills the vesting condition, he is paid the amount as equivalent to
the net gain. Here, he is benefitted because there is appreciation in the price of his share
without any such cash investment. These plans generally result in increased cash outflow of
the company.

Restricted Stock Award

Under this plan, the employee is entitled to an award of stock, which is subject to certain
underlying conditions and his failure in fulfilling the conditions may result in forfeiture of his
shares. Here, the employee is considered as the owner of the shares from the date of the
award and is entitled to receive dividends on those shares and also the right to vote. The
condition for the forfeiture may be based on a continuous service over a specified period of
time.

Restricted Stock Unit

Here an employee is entitled to receive certain stock at a specified date in the future, which is
subject to certain conditions. The conditions may relate to tenure of the job or performance
therein. The basic difference lies in the point that until the shares are actually delivered to the
employee, he is not a shareholder and is not entitled to receive any such dividend arising out
of those shares and also not entitled to vote ( exactly opposite to what has been provided
under Restricted Stock Award ).

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 CHAPTER-3

ADVANTAGE & DISADVANTAGE

Advantages:


When we talk about the ESOPs, generally it can be inferred that this is a very beneficial
concept for both i.e. the employer as well as the employee. On the part of companies, they
use this concept as an alternative exit strategy to structure a business sale or acquisition. On
the other hand, employees get a chance to have shares in the very company where they are
working. Some advantages of ESOPs are –

A ready made market for the stock of the company:- It is very convenient for a company to
transfer its stocks when the concept of ESOPs is in play. Sometimes, it may happen that a
company may face some difficulties in having its shares transferred but when ESOP is there,
the difficulty can be avoided upto a certain extent because now, the workers are also a
prospective buyer of the shares and it is not that difficult to convince them to buy the shares.



➢ Discounts on the actual price of shares :- When a share is being sold to an employee
under the ESOP, the amount to be paid by him is actually an amount after discount. It means
that, while buying shares under ESOP, the employees are given certain discount as when the
shares are valued on a fair value market basis, certain discount is allowed. 


➢ To remain in the business even after transition of the ownership :- A business owner can
very well transit the ownership in gradual manner over a period of time and even after that he
can remain active in the affairs of the company. 


➢Protection of Confidential Information : Under this concept, as the employees becomes

the shareholders, the probability of the confidential information to be revealed gets managed

13
to a certain extent. 


➢A long term Financial Investor :- Along with several other benefits, one more benefit
which can be derived is that when shares are sold to the employees, then in the form of
employees, the company gets a long term financial investor, who will not seek to sell the
company in a very short span of time.

Disadvantages :
 Problems related to corporate governance: Due to potential delays inherent in the
setup 
 time required for a transaction, the ESOP trustees and the external advisors
sometimes 
 develop a sense of impatience. 


 Dilution in deal’s value: Sometimes, when ESOP trustees utilize their rights of
approval to 
 obtain a premium for the stocks assigned to them, there is a potential in
dilution of deal’s 
 value. 

 Certain sacrifices on the part of Employees :- Sometimes, in order to avail the benefits
of 
 ESOP, the company may ask the employees to sacrifice some of their economic
rights such as wages or certain benefits, which may be accepted by employees
although it may not appeal to them.

 Additional cost :- There is an additional cost which has to be borne by the company
while going for ESOP because the company will have to retain an Independent
Trustee, Legal counsel and a Financial Advisor in order to facilitate the employees
under ESOP.

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 CHAPTER-4
Employee Benefits: ESOPs can be risky but profitable.
Early in their life cycle, most start-ups encounter cash flow problems. Profits tend to be
low or non-existent. At this stage, retaining and motivating key employees who can help
the company grow also becomes a challenge as such ventures lack the resources to
offer compensation that is at par with industry standards. Granting employee stock
options (ESOPs) is one solution that is widely adopted by start-ups to deal with the twin
problems of liquidity crunch and talent retention. A well drafted ESOP plan can create a
sense of ownership among employees so that they are motivated to contribute more,
while at the same time reducing the company's immediate cash outflow. Before
accepting ESOPs from a start-up company, however, employees need to weigh the pros
and cons of this form of compensation.

Initial cash outflow: A start-up, which needs funds, generally issues stock options at an
exercise price (EP). The EP is benchmarked based on present or expected rounds of
investment. Thus, at the time of exercise of options, employees are required to part with
some cash, depending on the EP and quantum of options. Furthermore, at the time of
exercise of options too, there will be tax implications (as discussed below), which will
lead to further cash outflow. However, there may not be an immediate cash inflow,
especially if the ESOP comes with a lock-in period before sale or if there are no
immediate buyers.

Will value be created? An ESOP is a tool meant to incentivise employees over the long
term. If an employee accepts ESOPs as part of its compensation package, he will have
to accept a lower fixed pay. This lower monetary compensation will last throughout the
vesting period (which refers to the time until which the employee becomes eligible to
exercise the shares underlying the ESOP). Hence, employees must do a cost-benefit
analysis before accepting an ESOP plan, taking into consideration factors such as
reduction in cash salary, expected cash outflow on payment of EP, cash outflow on
payment of tax, and cash inflow at the time of sale of shares. In addition, they should
also weigh a few other factors such as the company's financial situation, realistic
chances for growth, etc. If an employee feels that he may not derive the desired benefit
from the ESOP, he should take up the matter with the employer and seek adjustments to
the vesting period, the EP, or asked for a higher quantum of options to be earmarked, so
that he is adequately compensated for his current sacrifice.

Tax implications: In case of stock options, there are tax implications at two stages: on
exercise of option and on sale of shares. On exercise of option, the difference between

15
the fair market value (as determined by a category one merchant banker) and EP will be
taxable as perquisite, with the employer withholding the necessary tax. Thereafter, on
sale of shares, the difference between the selling price and the fair market value will be
taxed as capital gains. The tax rate will vary depending on the duration for which the
shares were held before sale.

Blindfolded: At times, the employer is not in a position to pay a high salary or bonuses that
are at par with industry benchmarks. In such cases, ESOPs provide the necessary pull factor,
especially in case of companies that have great prospects. Here, the call to sacrifice current
cash salary against the grant of stock options is based on expectations of future growth,
which will lead to a higher valuation of the company. These future projections may or may
not be achieved. Actual gains can vary significantly from projections, either on the positive
or negative side. Moreover, if the company doesn't do well and its valuations don't rise, the
stock options may become underwater, which means that their value may fall lower than the
EP. In such cases, employees will not be able to exercise their options and will not be
rewarded for the compensation that they have sacrificed. Thus, at the time of grant of options,
future growth and valuation expectations are all projections, which means that the employee
is essentially blindfolded until the gains are actually realised and locked.

Marketability issues: Shares of listed companies can be sold on the stock exchanges. But in
case of start-ups, disposing their shares can pose a challenge given their limited
marketability. In case of unlisted companies, the ESOP plan generally provides for specific
exit mechanisms to employees. These could be linked to an expected round of investments.
There may also be a provision for selling to existing shareholders or to a special purpose
vehicle created for buying back the shares. However, since they are not selling in a regulated
market, exit by employees at the desired price may be a myth or may take longer than
expected, especially if the private equity or venture capital funding gets delayed. This could
happen due to a variety of reasons: internal conflicts, mismatch in stakeholder expectations,
regulatory challenges for foreign funding, and so on. Thus, before accepting ESOPs,
employees need to factor in risks such as the possibility of having to sell at a lower price or
wait for a longer period.

While drafting an ESOP plan, most employers do consider all these points to ensure that the
plan is beneficial and achieves the desired objectives of both the employer and the
employees. If employees do not perceive significant benefit from it, the ESOP plan will fail.
Nonetheless, employees must evaluate the offer keeping in mind the points mentioned above
and take an informed decision. If after weighing the pros and cons, the ESOP appears to be
attractive, employees should go for it since it has the potential to offer high gains, especially
in case of start-ups that have high growth potential. The sense of ownership that ESOPs
provide will also give employees the motivation to work harder each day.

WEIGH THE PROS AND CONS

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  If you accept ESOPs, you will have to accept a lower cash salary
 You will also have to pay an exercise price
 You will have to pay taxes at the time of exercise of options and sale of shares
 Weigh the growth prospects of the company before accepting the plan
 Remember that in case of unlisted companies' shares there is no open market where you
can sell at the existing price

CHAPTER-5

CASE LAWS :-

 Rajnish Kohli vs Hcl Technologies Ltd on 4 September, 2018

The facts of the case are that the appellant/plaintiff was an employee of the
respondent/defendant company M/s HCL Technologies Ltd. The earlier name of the
respondent/defendant company was HCL Consulting Ltd., and this was during the period
when the appellant/plaintiff was the employee of the respondent/defendant company. By
the Letter dated 8.11.1995 the appellant/plaintiff was offered by the respondent/defendant
company ESOP of 1950 Shares of the respondent/defendant company. Thisoffer given to
the appellant/plaintiff was in terms of the Letter dated 8.11.1995 (Ex.P3). The offer was
however subsequently deferred in terms of the Letter dated 20.1.1997 (Ex.P-4) whereby
the entitlement of the appellant/plaintiff to the ESOP was to be enforced after 30 days of
the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of the respondent/defendant company.
Appellant/plaintiff pleaded that he kept on patiently waiting to get the ESOP and that he
was orally informed by the officers of the respondent/defendant company that
information with respect to the coming out of its IPO shall be conveyed to him. The
appellant/plaintiff pleads that he had repeatedly requested the respondent/defendant
company through phone calls and e-mails to enable him to exercise the option in terms of
the Letter dated 20.1.1997, but the respondent/defendant company refused to
grant ESOP for one reason or the other. Ultimately, the appellant/plaintiff was forced to
issue a Legal Notice dated 11.10.2004 asking the respondent/defendant company to issue
the ESOP shares, and to make good on all losses, and on failing to get the requisite
response, the subject suit was filed.
Respondent/Defendant company contested the suit by filing its written statement. The
first defence raised by the respondent/defendant company was that the ESOP 1995 was
withdrawn in the year 1999. It was further contended by the respondent/defendant
company that the appellant/plaintiff knew of the withdrawal of ESOP 1995 Scheme,
including because under the ESOP 1999 Scheme of the holding company of the
respondent/defendant company namely HCL Corporation Ltd., the appellant/plaintiff was
granted 9662 Stock Options at Rs.4/- each and the appellant/plaintiff exercised that option
and made profit of about Rs.20 lacs on sale of the said shares. The further case of the
respondent/defendant company was that the entitlement for ESOP as claimed by
appellant/plaintiff, in terms of the SEBI (Employee Stock Option Scheme and Employee
Stock Purchase Scheme) Guidelines, 1999 as amended w.e.f 30.6.2003, could not be
given to the appellant/plaintiff as ESOP benefits were to be given only to an employee of
a company or employee of a subsidiary company or an employee of a holding company,

17
and that the appellant/plaintiff admittedly from April 1997 ceased to be the employee of
the respondent/defendant company and became the employee, not of a subsidiary or
holding company of the respondent/defendant company, but of a joint venture of
therespondent/defendant company and M/s. Perot Systems Corporation, USA. In fact,
M/s HCL Perot Systems Ltd. even ceased to be a joint venture company of the group of
respondent/defendant company w.e.f 19.12.2003 when it ceased to be a joint venture on

account of sale of shares in the joint venture company by the respondent/defendant

company M/s HCL Technologies Ltd. to M/s Perot Systems Ltd. It was further pleaded

by the respondent/defendant company that since the appellant/plaintiff knowingly failed

to participate in ESOP 1999 and therefore now not only it cannot be asserted by the
appellant/plaintiff that he came to know only in the year 2004 that the ESOP 1999 had
been withdrawn, but infact the suit was barred by time. Suit was hence prayed to be
dismissed.

 Commissioner Of Income Tax… VS Smt. Neenu Dutta on 31 May,2013

This is an appeal filed on behalf of the revenue under Section 260A of the Income Tax
Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the "Act"). The appellant herein has challenged the
order dated 20.07.2012 passed by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal in ITA No.
215/Del/2012 for the assessment year 2008-09. The controversy in the present case
relates to levy of penalty by the Assessing Officer under Section 271(1)(c) of the Act.
The assessee filed a return under the Act for the assessment year 2008-09 on 30.09.2008
declaring an income of ` 78,83,303/-. The assessee did not include capital gains of `
86,98,461/- that had resulted on account of the assessee exercising of stock options and
the sale of the shares vested with the assessee pursuant the exercise of the Employees
Stock Option (ESOP). The assessee did not include the said amount as gains were
claimed to be long term capital gains.
The return filed by the assessee was taken up for scrutiny and the Assessing Officer made
an addition of ` 86,98,461/- to the income of the assessee on account of short term capital
gains. The said addition was made by the Assessing Officer as he held that the gains
arising out of exercising of options and sale of the shares of Citi Bank were not long term
capital gains but short term capital gains inasmuch as shares were sold on the very same
day on which the assessee exercised her ESOP. The date of grant of ESOP was not
considered by the Assessing Officer as the date of acquisition of the capital asset sold by
the assessee. The assessee contended that although the assessment raised were
contentious she decided not to contest the assessment order in order to avoid litigation
and to buy peace. The assessee also wrote a letter dated 06.12.2010 accepting the view of
the department and surrendering her right to contest the issue on the condition that no
penalty under Section 271(1)(c) of the Act would be imposed on her.

The Assessing Officer thereafter commenced penalty proceedings and passed an order
dated 29.06.2011 imposing a penalty of ` 29,56,610/- which was calculated on 100% of the
incremental tax payable on the addition made by the Assessing Officer.

18
The assessee preferred an appeal before CIT (Appeals) challenging the levy of penalty
under Section 271(1)(c) of the Act. It was contended by the assessee that the assessee
considered the gains arising out of the exercise of ESOP as long term capital gains taking
the date of grant of ESOP as the date of acquisition of the asset sold. The assessee
invested ` 1 crore in October 2007 with Cedarhills Hospitality Pvt. Ltd and showed the
entire amount received by the assessee as having been invested in construction of a

residential house. The assessee thus, claimed the capital gains to be exempted
under Section 54F of the Act. The assessee contended that she was advised that the
amount received for sales by her on account of exercise of option was not taxable as the

gains were long terms capital gains and the same had been invested in acquiring a
residential house.

19
 CONCLUSION
Before doing the research for this project, I was quite unaware of any such mechanism
through which such a benefit can be provided to the employees which ultimately causes in
the overall development of the company. I was of the impression that the employees are only
entitled to get the remuneration for the job they do in the company and beyond that they
receive certain other benefits such as bonus, gratuity, etc. but this concept of ESOP was quite
a pleasant surprise for me because this provides for the right of the employees to hold shares
in the company, where they are employed. This actually is a gamechanger because it inflicts a
sense of ownership in the employees which actually affects the proceedings of a company in
a very -very positive manner.

Prior to this concept, employees were only concerned to their own performance because that
was going to affect their prospect in the company and they did not bother about the progress
of the company because that progress was only limited to the concern of the stakeholders in
the company. By introducing this concept, the owners of the company inflicted a sense of
ownership in the employees too, which also inflicted a sense of responsibility in them. This
sense of responsibility was very much required for the overall growth of the company and
hence this concept of ESOP served the purpose.

A very important aspect of this plan is that it does not inflict any such hardship on the
employer as well because they have to sell the shares and if the same is sold to the
employees, this actually helps in growth of the company itself. So, it is a win-win situation
for all. There is no doubt on the fact that certain issues are there arising out of such schemes
but when a comparison is being drawn between the benefits of the scheme and the
disadvantages arising out of it, scope of benefits is much more higher than that of the
disadvantages so caused.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS:

th
 Singh Avatar, Company Law, Lexis Nexis,8 edition.
 Sheth Tejpal, Company Law, Taxmann.

LINKS:

 https://www.business-standard.com/article/pf/employee-benefits-esops-can-be-risky-
but-profitable-117021800796_1.html
 https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/esop.asp
 https://www.financialexpress.com/money/employee-stock-option-plan-all-you-need-
to-know-about-esop-and-its-tax-implications/1162110/
 https://taxguru.in/income-tax/everything-about-employee-stock-options-plans-
esops.html

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