UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C.20549


SCHEDULE 14A


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Securities Exchange Act of 1934


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India Globalization Capital,IGC Pharma, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)


                                                                                                            

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India Globalization Capital

IGC Pharma, Inc.

4336 Montgomery Avenue
Bethesda MD 20814


10224 Falls Road, Potomac,

Maryland, 20854

ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS


October 5, 2017

July 26, 2023

Dear Stockholder:

You are cordially invited to attend the Joint 2016 and 20172023 Annual Stockholders’ Meeting of Stockholders of India Globalization Capital,IGC Pharma, Inc. (“IGC,” “we,” “us,” “our” or the “Company”), which is to be held at 11410 Isaac Newton Sq., Suite 100, Reston, VA 20190,10224 Falls Road, Potomac, Maryland, on November 8, 2017August 18, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. local time. We reserve the right to take any additional precautionary measures we deem appropriate in relation to the physical meeting and access to our premises. We may need to change the time, date or location of the Annual Meeting. If we do so, we will announce any changes in advance as required by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and by any applicable state law. The Annual Meeting will commence with a discussion and voting on the matters set forth in the accompanying Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders followed by a report on our operations.

The Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders and Proxy Statement, which more fully describedescribes the formal business to be conducted at the Annual Meeting, followfollows this letter. A copy of our Annual Report to Stockholders for the fiscal year ended March 31, 20172023, is also enclosed. We encourage you to carefully read these materials.

The notice and the accompanying proxy statement will be mailed to all stockholders by July 26, 2023.

Whether or not you plan to attend the Annual Meeting, it is important that your shares be represented and voted at the Annual Meeting. Therefore, I urge you to promptly vote and submit your proxy by signing, dating, and returning your proxy card. Beneficial owners of shares held in street name should follow the instructions in the Proxy Statement for voting their shares. If you are a record holder and you decide to attend the Annual Meeting, you will be able to vote in person, even if you have previously submitted your proxy.

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING THE AVAILABILITY OF PROXY MATERIALS FOR THE ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS TO BE HELD ON NOVEMBER 8, 2017:

AUGUST 18, 2023:

This Proxy Statement, the Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders, and our Annual Report to Stockholders are available at http://www.igcinc.us.


On behalf of the Board of Directors, thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,


/s/ Richard Prins

Chairman

Chairman
October 5, 2017logo_2sm.jpg | FYE2023 Form DEF 14A


India Globalization Capital

IGC Pharma, Inc.

4336 Montgomery Avenue
 Bethesda, MD 20814

10224 Falls Road, Potomac,

Maryland, 20854

NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETINGSMEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS


The Annual MeetingsMeeting of Stockholders (the joint “Annual Meeting”) for the year ended March 31, 2016 and March 31, 20172023, of India Globalization Capital,IGC Pharma, Inc. (“IGC,” “we,” “us,” “our” or the “Company”) will be held at 11410 Isaac Newton Sq., Suite 100, Reston, VA 20190,10224 Falls Road, Potomac, Maryland, 20854, on November 8, 2017August 18, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. local time. Voting materials, which include this Proxy Statement, the proxy card, and our Annual Report for the fiscal ended March 31, 2017, is2023, are first being mailed to Stockholders of the Company on or about October 12, 2017. 


July 26, 2023.

Stockholders who desire to attend the Annual Meeting should indicate such planned attendance by marking the appropriate box on the enclosed proxy card. Stockholders who do not indicate attendance at the Annual Meeting by proxy will be required to present acceptable proof of stock ownership to attend the Annual Meeting. All stockholders must furnish personal photo identification for admission to the Annual Meeting.


The Company will hold the Annual Meeting for the following purposes:

(1)

(1)

To elect Mr. Ram Mukunda and Mr. Sudhakar ShenoyMs. Claudia Grimaldi to the Company’s board of directors to serve as a Class C and Class A directors, respectively,director until the 2019 and 20202026 annual meetingsmeeting of Stockholders, and until such directors’ respective successorsdirector’s successor shall be duly elected and qualified, or until such directors’director’s earlier death, resignation or removal from office;

(2)

(2)

To ratify the appointment of AJSHManohar Chowdhry & Company (“AJSH”),Associates as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for the 20182024 fiscal year;


(3)

(3)To approve the issuance of up to 2,000,000 additional shares of our common stock to Bricoleur Partners, L.P. (“Bricoleur”), to be used as payment of principal and/or interest;
(4)

To approve the grant of 1,900,0003,000,000 shares of common stock to be granted from time to time to the Company’s current and new employees, advisors, directors, and consultants by the board of directors, pursuant to certain metrics including performance, vesting, and incentive as set by the board of directors and or the CEO;

(4)

(5)To approve the adoption of the IGC’s 2018 Omnibus Incentive Plan for a period of 10 years commencing in 2018 on substantially the same terms as the current shareholder approved 2008 Omnibus Incentive Plan as Amended set to expire in 2018.
(6)

To approve, by a non-binding advisory vote, the compensation of the Company’s named executive officers as disclosed pursuant to the SEC’s compensation disclosure rules (which disclosure includes the Compensation Discussion and Analysis, the compensation tables, and the narrative disclosures that accompany the compensation tables) (the “Say-on-Pay Proposal”); and.

(5)

(7)

To approve, by a non-binding advisory vote, to set the frequency of say-on-pay votes (cast an advisory vote on the Company’s executive compensation program) at future annual meetings of stockholders to EVERY THREE YEARS.

(6)

To act upon such other matters as may properly come before the Annual Meeting, including any proposal to adjourn or postpone of the Annual Meeting to a later date or dates, if necessary, to permit further solicitation and vote of proxies (the “Adjournment Proposal”).

Your attention is directed to the Proxy Statement accompanying this Notice for a more complete description of each of the foregoing items of business.


Only holders of record of our common stock at the close of business on October 5, 2017June 21, 2023, are entitled to notice of and to vote at the Annual Meeting and at any and all adjournments or postponements thereof.

By Order of the Board of Directors,

Richard Prins

Chairman

July 26, 2023

 
Richard Prins
Chairman
October 5, 2017
logo_2sm.jpg | FYE2023 Form DEF 14A


INDIA GLOBALIZATION CAPITAL,

IGC PHARMA, INC.


PROXY STATEMENT

The board of directors of India Globalization Capital, Inc.the Company (the “Board of Directors”) is soliciting proxies for the Annual Meeting. You may revoke your proxy at any time prior to voting at the Annual Meeting by submitting a later dated proxy or by giving timely written notice of your revocation to the Secretary of the Company. Proxies properly executed and received by the Secretary prior to the Annual Meeting, and not revoked, will be voted in accordance with the terms of the proxies.

Registered stockholders holding shares of the Company’s common stock may vote by completing, signing, and dating the proxy card and returning it as promptly as possible. The Company will pay all of the costs associated with this proxy solicitation. Proxies may be solicited in person or by mail, telephone, telefacsimile, or other means of electronic transmission by our directors, officers, and employees. We will also reimburse banks, brokerage firms, and other custodians, nominees and fiduciaries for their reasonable expenses in forwarding soliciting materials to the beneficial owners of the Company’s common stock.

If you desire to attend the Annual Meeting, you should indicate your intent to attend in person when voting by marking the appropriate box on the enclosed proxy card. If you do not indicate attendance at the Annual Meeting on the proxy, you will be required to present acceptable proof of stock ownership to attend. All stockholders who attend the Annual Meeting must furnish personal photo identification for admission. If your shares are not registered in your own name, and you plan to attend the Annual Meeting and vote your shares in person, you should contact your broker or agent in whose name your shares are registered to obtain a proxy executed in your favor and bring it to the Annual Meeting in order to vote.

VOTING RIGHTS

Our stockholders are entitled to one vote at the Annual Meeting for each share of Company common stock held of record as of October 5, 2017,June 21, 2023, the record date for the Annual Meeting. As of the close of business on the record date, there were approximately 27,905,27253,077,436 shares of common stock outstanding. A majority of the shares entitled to vote, present in person or represented by proxy, will constitute a quorum at the Annual Meeting.Meeting (the “Record Date”). If your shares are held in “street name”,name,” these proxy materials are being forwarded to you by your bank or brokerage firm (the “Record Holder”), along with a voting instruction card. As the beneficial owner, you have the right to direct the Record Holder on how to vote your shares, and the Record Holder is required to vote your shares in accordance with your instructions. If you do not give instructions to your bank or brokerage firm, it will nevertheless be entitled to vote your shares in its discretion on “routine matters.”


VOTES REQUIRED

Each ofthe election of the nominee for director (Proposal 1), the ratification of the appointment of Manohar Chowdhry & Associates as the Company’s independent registered public accountants (Proposal 2), the approval of the grant of Compensation Shares (Proposal 3), the approval of the compensation of the Company’s named executive officers as disclosed pursuant to the SEC’s compensation disclosure rules (Proposal 4), and the approval of the frequency of say-on-pay votes requires a majority of the votes present at the meeting and entitled to vote, in person or by proxy (Proposal 5). Each of Proposal 4 and Proposal 5 will be on a non-binding advisory basis.

BROKER NON-VOTES


A “broker non-vote” occurs when a broker submits a proxy card with respect to shares held in a fiduciary capacity (typically referred to as being held in “street name”) but declines to vote on a particular matter because the broker has not received voting instructions from the beneficial owner. Under the rules that govern brokers who are voting with respect to shares held in street name, brokers have the discretion to vote such shares on routine matters but not on non-routine matters.  Routine matters include ratification of auditors.  Non-routine matters include adoption of stock plans, authorization to issue additional shares in excess of 20 percent of shares outstanding, approval of grants of shares of common stock to the Company’s current and new employees, advisors, directors, and consultants outside of the Omnibus Incentive Plan, say-on-pay votes, and the uncontested election of directors.


The election of directors in an uncontested election is deemed to be a non-routine matter. The advisory vote on executive compensation is also a matter considered non-routine under applicable rules. The vote to approve grants of shares of common stock from time to time to the Company’s current and new employees, advisors, directors, and consultants by the board of directors, isthe vote to approve executive compensation and the vote to approve the frequency of say-on-pay votes are also deemed to be a non-routine matter. Accordingly, if you hold your shares in street name, in order for your shares to be voted for the election of directors at the Annual Meeting (Proposal One), and the vote to approve the issuance of in excess of 20 percent of our outstanding shares (Proposal Three), the grants of shares of common stock to grant of 1,900,000 ofup to 3,000,00 shares of common stock to the Company’s current and new employees, advisors, directors, and consultants by the board of directors (Proposal Four)Three), amendments to the Company’s Omnibus Incentive Plan (Proposal Five), and the advisory vote on executive compensation (Proposal Six)Four) and advisory vote on the frequency of the advisory vote on executive compensation (Proposal Five) you must provide voting instructions to your broker in accordance with the voting instruction card that you will receive from your broker. Proxies received but marked as abstentions or treated as broker non-votes will be included in the calculation of the number of shares considered to be present at the Annual Meeting for quorum purposes. In determining whether the proposal has been approved, abstentions will be counted for purposes of determining the presence or absence of a quorum and will be counted as votes against the purpose, and broker non-votes will not be counted as votes for or against the proposal or as votes present and voting on the proposal.

logo_2sm.jpg | FYE2023 Form DEF 14A

For purposes of this Annual Meeting, the Company has determined that the reappointment of its independent auditors (Proposal Two) is a routine matter under applicable rules. A broker or other nominee may generally vote on routine matters, and therefore no broker non-votes are expected to exist in connection with Proposal Two. The approval of the Adjournment Proposal (Proposal Seven)Six) requires a majority of all the votes cast at a meeting at which a quorum is present. Approval of the Adjournment Proposal is not conditioned upon the approval of any other proposals in this proxy.


4


We are not aware of any matters that are to come before the Annual Meeting other than those described in this Proxy Statement; however, if other matters do properly come before the Annual Meeting, it is the intention of the persons named in the proxy card to vote such proxy in accordance with their best judgment.

SOLICITATION OF PROXIES

We will bear the cost of soliciting proxies. In addition to soliciting stockholders by mail through our employees, we will request banks, brokers, and other custodians, nominees, and fiduciaries to solicit customers for whom they hold our stock and will reimburse them for their reasonable, out-of-pocket costs. We may use the services of our officers, directors, and others to solicit proxies, personally or by telephone, without additional compensation. We have also engaged InvestorCom to solicit proxies on our behalf. We anticipate that the fees to InvestorCom will be approximately $2,500.


$2,750.

PROPOSAL ONE


ELECTION OF DIRECTORS


Our Board of Directors is currently divided into three classes, Class A, Class B, and Class C, with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class serving a three-year term. At the joint2023 Annual Meeting, two directors areMs. Claudia Grimaldi, Class A director, is to be elected as members of our Board of Directors: one Class C director who willDirectors to serve until the 2019 annual meeting of stockholders2026 Annual Stockholders Meetings, respectively, and until their successors areher successor is duly elected and qualified, or until their earlier resignation, removal or death and one Class A directorwho will serve until the 2020 annual meeting of stockholders and until their successors are duly elected and qualified, or until theirher earlier resignation, removal or death. Our Board of Directors has nominated Ram Mukunda and Sudhakar Shenoy, both currently directors of the Company,Ms. Claudia Grimaldi to serve as a Class C and Class A directors, respectively.  


director.

The other current director consistsdirectors consist of one Class B director and two Class C directors, who will serve until the 2018 annual meeting of stockholders2024 and 2025 Annual Stockholders’ Meetings, respectively, and until his successor istheir successors are duly elected and qualified.

Should any vacancy occur on the Board of Directors, the remaining directors would be able to fill such vacancy by the affirmative vote of a majority of the remaining directors in office, even if the remaining directors do not constitute a quorum. Any director elected by the Board of Directors to fill a vacancy would hold office for the remainder of the full term of the class of directors in which the vacancy occurred and until a successor is elected and qualified. If the size of the board is increased, additional directors will be apportioned among the three classes in order to make all classes as nearly equal as possible.

Set forth below is information regarding our Class A director nominee. Except as set forth below, there are no family relationships between any of our directors or executive officers. Each director holds his office until he or she resigns or is removed and his or her successor is elected and qualified.

Name

 

Class

 

Age

 

Position

 

Director Since

 

Term will Expire

Claudia Grimaldi

 

A

 

52

 

Vice President, Principal Financial Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, and Director

 

2022

 

2023

Claudia Grimaldi, Vice-president, PFO, Chief Compliance Officer, and Director is responsible for managing the accounting and finance teams in various countries and is responsible for ensuring timely and accurate statutory and regulatory compliance (SEC, FINRA, NYSE, IRS, XETRA 2, among others). In addition, she is responsible for building and managing an international team of doctors, scientists, and advisors that conduct and manage pre-clinical and FDA registered trials focused on Alzheimer’s disease. She is also responsible for relationships with partners that provide, among others, animal studies, cannabinoids, and software for AI. She has more than thirteen (13) years of experience with SEC filings, regulatory compliance, and disclosures, having held increasing responsibilities first as Manager of financial reporting and compliance from May 2011 to 2013 and then as General Manager financial reporting and compliance from 2013 to May 2018. She also serves as a Director/Manager for some of our subsidiaries. Ms. Grimaldi graduated summa cum laude from Javeriana University, a top five university in Colombia, with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. She holds an MBA in General Management, graduating with Highest Honors, from Meredith College, in North Carolina. She is a member of Delta Mu Delta International Honor Society. She has also completed Executive Education courses on SEC compliance, finance from UVA, and corporate governance from the Columbia Business School. In addition, she has attended the Darden School of Business Financial Management Executives program at the University of Virginia, and SEC reporting and compliance seminars. Currently she is pursuing her Directorship Certification with the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD). She is also fluent in both English and Spanish.

logo_2sm.jpg | FYE2023 Form DEF 14A

On March 23, 2022, the Board of Directors of the Company appointed Ms. Claudia Grimaldi to serve on the Board as a non-independent director Class A until the Company’s 2023 annual meeting of stockholders upon the election and qualification of successor directors, her earlier death, resignation, or removal. Ms. Grimaldi brings a wealth of experience and qualifications that make her an excellent fit for the board. Ms. Grimaldi’s experience with SEC filing procedures is invaluable in ensuring regulatory compliance and transparency within our public company. Additionally, her in-depth understanding of Colombia, South America-where our company has invested in human capital provides valuable insights into the market dynamics, cultural nuances, and business opportunities within the region. Her SEC filing experience, understanding of Colombia, qualifications in business administration, and general business acumen makes her qualified to serve as a director of our Company.

The following sets forth information regarding our current Class B and Class C and Class A director nominees.directors. Except as set forth below, there are no family relationships between any of our directors or executive officers. Each director holds office until he or she resigns or is removed and his or her successor is duly elected and qualified.


Name
Age
PositionTime in Position
Ram Mukunda
59
Chief Executive Officer, Executive Chairman, President and Class C Director
April 2005 to the Present
Sudhakar Shenoy
70
Compensation Committee Chairman
Class A Director
Since 2012
May 2005 to the Present

Mr.

Name

 

Class

 

Age

 

Position

 

Director Since

 

Term will Expire

Ram Mukunda

 

C

 

64

 

President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director

 

2005

 

2025

Richard Prins

 

B

 

66

 

Chairman of the Board of Directors

 

2007

 

2024

James Moran

 

C

 

78

 

Director

 

2022

 

2025

Ram Mukunda, has served as our Executive Chairman, Chief Executive Officer,Director, CEO and President since our inception on April 29, 2005. Mr. MukundaHe is responsible for general management and, over the past nine years, has been largely responsible for the Company’s strategy and positioning in the medical cannabinoids and pharmaceutical industry. He has been the chief inventor and architect of most of the Company’s patent filings, and the thrust into R&D and medical cannabis. He has spenttrials, which support the past four years studying the medial cannabis industryCompany’s desire to bring low-cost medications that address diseases and has assembled an impressive team of advisors with deep backgrounds in immunology, neurology, plant genomics, cannabis metabolism, and extraction technologies. Fromailments that affect humankind. Prior to IGC, from January 1990 to May 2004, Mr. Mukunda served as founder, Chairman,Founder and Chief Executive OfficerCEO of Startec Global Communications, an international telecommunications carrier focused on providing voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) services to emerging economies. Startec was the first pure play international long distance carrier. He was responsible for organizing, structuring, and integrating a number of companies owned by Startec. Under Mukunda’s tenure at Startec, the company made an initialwhich he took public offering of its equity securities in 1997 on NASDAQ. Prior to Startec, he served as Strategic Planning Advisor at Intelsat, a communications satellite services provider and prior to that worked in the bond market for a boutique firm on Wall Street. Mr. Mukunda serves as an Emeritus member on the Board of Visitors at the University of Maryland, School of Engineering. From 2001 to 2003, he was a Council Member at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, Belfer Center of Science and International Affairs. Mr. Mukunda is the recipient of several awards including, among others, the 2013 University of Maryland’s International Alumnus of the year award, the 2001 Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award, the 1998 Ernst & Young, LLP’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award. He holds a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering, a B.S degree in Mathematics, and a M.S. in Engineering from the University of Maryland. Mr. Mukunda has traveled extensively, and managed companies in Europe and Asia. He has more than 19over 20 years of experience managing a publicly-held companypublic companies and has acquired and integrated more thanover 20 companies in technology, telecommunications and social media.companies. His in-depth business experience in the medical cannabiscannabinoids industry, his knowledge of U.S. capital markets, capital structuring, international joint ventures, and broad science and engineering background make him well qualified to serve as a director of our company.


5


Mr. Sudhakar Shenoy Company.

Richard Prins has been our Chairman, Audit Committee and Compensation Committee Chairman since 2012 and has served as a Director since the inception of IGC in May 2005. Mr. Shenoy is the Chairman and CEO of Reston, Virginia based Alyx Technologies, Inc., a business solutions and technology provider with operations in the United States and India. He was a member of the Non-Resident Indian Advisory Group that advised the former Prime Minister of India on strategies for attracting foreign direct investment. He was selected for the U.S. Presidential Trade and Development Mission to India in 1995. Mr. Shenoy was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame at the University of Connecticut School of Business and the School of Engineering. He was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Bombay, India in 1997. Shenoy has been named one of the Most Influential People in Washington, D.C. high tech industry as well as being awarded the 2004 Executive of the Year by the Northern Virginia Government Contractors Council. He holds a B. Tech (Hons.) in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering and an M.B.A. from the University of Connecticut Schools of Engineering and Business Administration, respectively. Shenoy’s extensive business contacts in India and his experience serving on the boards of public and private companies in the United States make him well qualified to serve as a director of our company.


Set forth below is information regarding our current Class B director.  Except as set forth below, there are no family relationships between any of our directors or executive officers.  Each director holds his office until he or she resigns or is removed and his or her successor is elected and qualified.

NameAgePositionTime in Position
Mr. Richard Prins
60
Chairman of the Board and the Audit Committee
Class B Director
Since 2012
2007 to Present

Mr. Richard Prins has been our Chairman, Audit Committee Chairman since 2012, a member of the Compensation Committee and has served as aIndependent Director since May 2007. Mr. Prins has extensive experience in private equity investing and investment banking. From March 1996 to 2008, he was the Director of Investment Banking at Ferris, Baker Watts, Incorporated (FBW). FBW was the lead underwriter for our 2006 initial public offering. FBW was sold to Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) in 2008. Mr. Prins served in a consulting role tofor RBC until January 2009. Mr. Prins currently serves on several boards,one other board, volunteers full time with a non-profit organization, Advancing Native Missions, and is a private investor. Prior to FBW, from July 1988 to March 1996, Mr. Prins was Senior Vice President and Managing Director for the Investment Banking Division of Crestar Financial Corporation (SunTrust Bank). From 1993 to 1998, he was with the leveraged buy-out firm Tuscarora Corporation. Mr. Prins has experience serving on the boards of other publicly held companies. Since February 2003, he has been on the board of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. From March 2010 until 2016, he was on the board of Hilbert Technologies. Mr. Prins holds a B.A. degree from Colgate University and an M.B.A. from Oral Roberts University. Mr. Prins has substantial knowledge and experience with U.S. capital markets, has served on and chaired audit and compensation committees of boards, has extensive experience in finance, accounting, and internal controls over financial reporting. He brings important investment banking experience. Mr. Prins has traveled in India, China and Africa. Mr. Prins has substantialHis knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry and experience with U.S. capital markets has served on and chaired audit and compensation committees of boards, has extensive experience in finance, accounting and internal controls over financial reporting.  He brings important investment banking experience.  Mr. Prins has traveled in India, China and Africa.  His knowledge of India and China, and his in-depth experience with U.S. capital markets make him well qualified to serve as a director of our company.Company.

James Moran (Congressman Moran) has served on the Board as an Independent Director since January 2022. He served on Virginia’s 8th Congressional District for 24 years, where he was known as a “Problem Solver.” Throughout his tenure, he demonstrated bipartisan leadership and worked across the aisle to find common ground to resolve complex issues. He served on the Appropriation, Banking and Finance and Budget committees. He played a leadership role in the areas of defense, health, and the environment. During his 24 years in Congress, Congressman Moran was recognized as a champion of innovative research and development in areas including healthcare and national security, environmental protection and sustainability, and international trade and fiscal responsibility. He rose to senior leadership on the Appropriations Committee enabling him to bring billions of dollars into his Northern Virginia communities of Alexandria, Arlington, and Fairfax County. Having retired after 35 years in elected office, Congressman Moran is now with a major law firm and represents international and domestic clients in the defense, technology, entertainment, and international diplomacy sectors. He also serves in leadership roles for several non-profit foundations and is also a member of the Government Blockchain Association. Congressman Moran received a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and a Bachelors in Economics from the College of the Holy Cross.

logo_2sm.jpg | FYE2023 Form DEF 14A

Congressman Moran introduced the AUTISM Educators Act in 2012, which funded partnerships between public schools and higher education and non-profit organizations to promote teaching skills for educators working with high functioning autism students. He understands that treatment and education for conditions such as Autism and Alzheimer’s disease have the potential to positively impact millions of lives. With his extensive experience in Congress and as a policy advisor on topics including health, technology, and education, we are confident Congressman Moran will be a great asset to IGC especially at a time when we pursue Phase 2/3 human trials on IGC- AD1 on individuals that have Alzheimer’s disease. Congressman Moran’s extensive experience makes him qualified to serve as a director of our Company.

On December 27, 2022, the Board of Directors appointed Mr. James Moran as a member of both the Company’s Audit and Compensation Committee, effective immediately.

Vote Required and Board of Directors Recommendation

The election of the nomineesnominee for director requires a pluralitymajority of the votes cast,present at the meeting and entitled to vote, in person or by proxy.  Generally, the nominees for director receiving the highest number of affirmative votes from the shares voted at the Annual Meeting will be elected as directors. In this Annual Meeting, our nominees for director (Proposal One) will be elected so long as he receives a plurality of the votes cast in the election. In determining whether the proposal has been approved, abstentions will be counted for purposes of determining the presence or absence of a quorum butand will have no other legal effect under Maryland law,be counted as votes against the purpose, and broker non-votes will not be counted as votes for or against the proposal or as votes present and voting on the proposal.

Stockholders do not have the right to cumulate their votes in the election of directors. If, at the time of the Annual Meeting, the nominee should be unavailable to serve as a director, it is intended that votes will be cast, in accordance with the enclosed proxy, for such substitute nominee as may be nominated by the Board of Directors, or the Board of Directors may reduce the number of directors. The nominee has consented to being named in this Proxy Statement and to serve if elected.


The Board of Directors recommends that the stockholders vote FOR the election of the nominees set forth above.Properly executed and delivered proxies solicited by management for which no specific direction is included will be voted FOR the election of the nominees listed to serve as directors.

6


PROPOSAL TWO

RATIFICATION OF THE APPOINTMENT OF

INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS

The

On July 7, 2023, the Audit Committee of the Board has selected AJSHManohar Chowdhry & CompanyAssociates as the Company’s independent registered public accountants for theboth fiscal yearyears ending March 31, 2018.


AJSH2024 and 2025.

Manohar Chowdhry & CompanyAssociates served as the Company’s independent auditors for the fiscal yearyears ended March 31, 2017,2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 reviewing the Company’s financial statements. Services provided to the Company by AJSHManohar Chowdhry & CompanyAssociates for the 20172021 and 2022 fiscal yearyears are described in “Audit Information.” A representative of AJSHManohar Chowdhry & CompanyAssociates will not be present at the meeting.

Although stockholder ratification is not required by the Company’s Bylaws or otherwise, the Board of Directors is requesting that stockholders ratify the selection of AJSHManohar Chowdhry & CompanyAssociates as the Company’s independent registered public accountants to make an examination of the financial statements of the Company for the 20182024 fiscal year. If stockholders do not ratify the selection of AJSHManohar Chowdhry & CompanyAssociates at the Annual Meeting, the Audit Committee will reconsider whether or not to retain that firm for future audits. Even if the selection is ratified, the Audit Committee in its discretion may direct the appointment of different independent auditors at any time during the year if it determines that such change would be in the best interests of the Company and its stockholders.

Vote Required and Board of Directors Recommendation

The ratification of the appointment of AJSHManohar Chowdhry & CompanyAssociates as the Company’s independent registered public accountants for the 20182024 fiscal year will require the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the shares of outstanding common stock present or represented at the Annual Meeting and entitled to vote thereat. In determining whether the proposal has been approved, abstentions will be counted as votes against the proposal, and broker non-votes will not be counted as votes for or against the proposal or as votes present and voting on the proposal.


The Board of Directors recommends that you vote FOR the ratification of the appointment of AJSHManohar Chowdhry & CompanyAssociates as the Company’sCompanys independent registered public accountants for the 20182024 fiscal year.Proxies solicited by management for which no specific direction is included will be voted FOR ratification of the appointment of AJSHManohar Chowdhry & Company.Associates.

logo_2sm.jpg | FYE2023 Form DEF 14A

PROPOSAL THREE

ISSUANCE OF UP TO 2,000,000 ADDITIONAL SHARES OF
COMMON STOCK TO A NOTEHOLDER
The Company is also asking its stockholders to approve the issuance of up to 2,000,000 additional shares of the Company’s common stock to Bricoleur Partners L.P. (“Bricoleur”) for the reasons set forth in this Proposal Three. 

On October 16, 2009, the Company consummated the sale of an unsecured promissory note in the principal amount of $2,000,000 (the “Bricoleur Note”) to Bricoleur for a consideration of a certain number of shares of IGC’s common stock. The Bricoleur Note is not convertible into the Company’s common stock or other securities of the Company. Between 2009 and August 31, 2017 the Company has repaid $200,000 of principal and has delivered to Bricoleur about 1,703,386 shares of common stock as interest and penalty payments amounting to about 22 percent of the outstanding shares at the time of delivery. Since August 2016, the Company agreed to pay and has paid 30,000 shares of common stock as interest for each month the loan remains unpaid. No other cash interest payment is made on the loan. To the best of our knowledge, based on a review of the SEC filings and conversations with Bricoleur, all shares delivered to Bricoleur are, have been, or are intended to be sold by Bricoleur.
The shareholders are being asked to vote on approving up to 2,000,000 additional shares to be delivered, periodically, to Bricoleur, on an opportunistic basis as repayment of principal. The timing of such delivery of stock is solely determined by Bricoleur. The value of the shares could be based on the market value of the Common Stock or such other factors as the Company and Bricoleur determine from time to time. The shares when delivered would constitute payment towards the principal. At issuance the shares could be issued at a price less than the market value of the shares. To the best of our knowledge, based on prior history as stated above, the shares when delivered to Bricoleur will be sold either immediately or opportunistically by Bricoleur.

NYSE Rule 312.03(c) requires prior stockholder approval if the listed company intends to issue common stock, or securities convertible or exercisable for common stock, in any transaction or series of transactions if: (a) the common stock to be issued has, or will have upon issuance, voting power equal to or in excess of 20 percent of the voting power outstanding before the issuance of such stock or of securities convertible into or exercisable for common stock; or (b) the number of shares of common stock to be issued is, or will be upon issuance, equal to or in excess of 20 percent of the number of shares of common stock outstanding before the issuance of the common stock or of securities convertible into or exercisable for common stock.

7


Approval of this Proposal Three would enable Bricoleur to demand stock from the Company, sell it into the open market (subject to an effective registration statement relating to the resale of the shares or an exemption from registration), and reduce the debt by the value of the stock, subject to a yet to be negotiated formal written agreement between the Company and Bricoleur. The timing of such demand for stock will be determined by Bricoleur and not the Company.

Stockholder approval is sought for the issuance of up to 2,000,000 additional shares of the Company’s common stock to Bricoleur, to permit the Company to issue additional shares at a later date without requiring stockholder approval at the time of issuance.

If stockholder approval is granted, the Company may exclude the issuance of these 2,000,000 additional shares to Bricoleur when calculating whether a future issuance of shares or options will fall within the 20 percent limit under FINRA Rule 4110(d)(3).  This will have the same effect as if stockholder approval had been obtained before the Company issued the shares.
Vote Required and Board of Directors Recommendation
NYSE Rule 312.03 requires stockholder approval prior to the sale, issuance or potential issuance of a number of shares of the Company’s common stock in a transaction other than a public offering which equals or exceeds 20 percent of the shares or voting power outstanding before the issuance, if the sale price of such stock is less than the greater of its book value or market value.  The approval of the issuance of up to 2,000,000 additional shares of our common stock to Bricoleur will require the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the shares of outstanding common stock present or represented at the Annual Meeting and entitled to vote thereat.  In determining whether the proposal has been approved, abstentions will be counted as votes against the proposal and broker non-votes will not be counted as votes for or against the proposal or as votes present and voting on the proposal.

The Board of Directors recommends that you vote FOR the issuance of up to 2,000,000 additional shares of the Company’s common stock to Bricoleurat the discretion of Bricoleur.Proxies solicited by management for which no specific direction is included will be voted FOR the issuance of up to 2,000,000 additional shares of the Company’s common stock to Bricoleur. 

PROPOSAL FOUR

GRANT OF 1,900,0003,000,000 SHARES OF COMMON STOCK

TO OUR CURRENT AND NEW OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES,

ADVISORS AND CONSULTANTS


Our Board of Directors is requesting that IGC stockholders approve a grant of 1,900,0003,000,000 shares of common stock to current and new officers, directors, employees, advisors, and consultants (the “Compensation Shares”).


The Compensation Committee believes that the grant of a portionthe Compensation Shares to some of these shares toits current officers, employees, directors, advisors, and consultants is important in order to align their interests with the interests of the Company and its shareholders, andas well as to retain them as the Company builds its specialty pharmaceuticalPlant and Cannabinoid business and moves into clinical trials, in an industry brimming with opportunity, high growth, and high relative valuations. Our management

Among the accomplishments achieved by the Company in fiscal 2023 are the following: i) the Company completed Phase 1 and advisorsstarted Phase 2 of human clinical trials for its product IGC-AD1 targeting Alzheimer’s disease; ii) the Company continues to engage more Principal Investigators and study sites in the U.S. and Canada to keep conducting Phase 2 trial on IGC-AD1 to assess it as a symptom modifying agent, specifically on agitation in dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease; iii) we have identified gapsfiled forty-one (41) patent applications and secured nine patents, including control of four in cannabinoid-based therapythe Alzheimer’s space. The Company is moving towards monetizing the patent filings, workedportfolio as soon as commercialization begins; iv) on several patentsJune 7, 2022, the Company received a patent from the USPTO (#11,351,152) titled "Method and Composition for cannabinoid based therapiesTreating Seizures Disorders." The patent relates to compositions and methods for treating multiple types of seizure disorders and epilepsy in humans and animals using a combination of CBD with other compounds. The combination is intended to reduce side effects caused by hydantoin anticonvulsant drugs by reducing the dosing of anticonvulsant drugs in humans, dogs, and cats; v) on June 20, 2022, the Company announced that it had acquired rights to TGR-63, a pre-clinical molecule that exhibits an impressive affinity for reducing neurotoxicity in Alzheimer’s cell lines. Neurotoxicity causes cell dysfunction and death in Alzheimer’s disease. If shown to be efficacious, in AD cell lines, in halting this process, this inhibitor has the potential to treat Alzheimer’s disease by ameliorating Aβ plaques. Pre-clinical testing demonstrates that TGR-63 holds the potential to ameliorate amyloid plaque, a key hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. Behavioral tests with Alzheimer’s (APP/PS1) mice show that TGR-63 can rescue neuronal cells from amyloid toxicity and minimize learning deficiency, memory impairment & cognitive decline; vi) on September 20, 2022, the Company received a patent from the USPTO (#11,446,276) for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease titled "Extreme low dose THC as a therapeutic and prophylactic agent for Alzheimer’s disease." The original patent application was initiated by the University of South Florida (USF) and filed six patentson August 1, 2016. On May 25, 2017, The Company entered into an exclusive license agreement with USF with respect to the patent application and the associated research conducted on Alzheimer’s disease. IGC-AD1, described above, is based on some of this research. vii) On January 4, 2023, Health Canada gave the Company approval to begin its trial in Canada (No-objection letter). The Company is currently in Phase 2B safety and efficacy clinical trials for its lead drug candidate, IGC-AD1. The trial, which commenced in December of 2022, will enroll 146 total patients across an anticipated 13-15 trial sites with a target enrolment of between 15 to 20 patients per month. The Company is targeting completion of its Phase-2 trial in the first quarter of calendar 2024. In pre-clinical studies on Alzheimer’s cell lines, IGC-AD1 has demonstrated efficacy in reducing plaques and tangles, two important hallmarks of Alzheimer’s, and in Phase 1, trials in reducing neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with dementia in Alzheimer’s disease, such as agitation; viii) on March 8, 2023, the Company filed a provisional patent application with the USPTO titled “Composition, Synthesis, and acquired rightsMedical Use of Hybrid Cannabinoid”; ix) on June 6, 2023, the Commissioner of Patents, Canada, granted the Company its patent filing on the use of cannabinoids in the treatment of seizures (IGC-501) (Notice of Allowance). The formulation also received an intent to grant from the European Patent Office, protecting the formulation in the U.S., Canada, and certain European countries; x) on July 6, 2023, the Company announced a potential blockbuster treatment based$3 million private placement of its common stock. IGC received strategic investments from four investment funds managed by Bradbury Asset Management (Hong Kong) Limited (“Bradbury”) along with contributions from three additional investors, resulting in approximately $3 million in gross proceeds, further strengthening IGC’s working capital. The transaction had no warrants or derivatives, and the shares were unregistered; and xi) on Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) for Alzheimer’s disease. All this while winding down operations in China, winding down operations and selling its operations inJuly 7, 2023, the Company announced a $12 million revolving line of credit from the Hong Kong and extricating IGC from its investment in Brilliant Hallmark, processes that resulted in retiring about 6.6 million shares, and realigningBranch of O-Bank Co. Ltd. (“O-Bank” or the company to take a first mover advantage in“Bank”). This funding will support the cannabis based combination therapy sector. In addition, all six patent filings are assigned to the Company. Further, the current management with its considerable experience in compliance, and outsourced model has enabledworking capital needs of the Company, primarily related to operate with relatively low overheads.


Alzheimer’s research.

The Board of Directors will determine, subject to vesting, the award of the Compensation Shares among its current officers, employees, directors, advisors, and consultants based on the Compensation Committee’s recommendation and depending on specific factors like individual’s contribution to the Company’s business advancement and creation of intellectual property, NYSE/SEC/IRS compliance, business strategy, overhead and expenses control/savings and management of daily operations, amongst others. As of the date of this filing,Proxy Statement, IGC has no undisclosed contractual agreement to issue to any of its current officers, employees, directors, advisors, and consultants any shares of the issued and outstanding shares of the common stock of IGC. As of the date of this Proxy Statement, the Compensation Committee has not made a determination of the amount of Compensation Shares to be awarded to current officers, employees, directors, advisors, and consultants and the amount to be used in the future to recruit specialists. The NYSE American rules require IGC stockholders’ approval prior to the issuance of the Compensation Shares.

logo_2sm.jpg | FYE2023 Form DEF 14A

Further,

At the Compensation Committee believes that it is imperative to add specialists in various areas: individuals that are research scientists, medical doctors, clinical trial experts, veterinarian sciences,Record Date, there were no shares of the Company’s Common Stock remained available for future grants under the Company’s existing equity plan. On the Record Date, the closing price of our Common Stock was $0.30 per share. On the Record Date, directors and FDAexecutive officers, including the Named Executive Officers, and approximately 20 employees and consultants among others. The Board proposes to use a portion of these shares to help recruit and align their interests with those of the Company and its shareholders. Accordingly,were eligible to participate in the amountreceipt of the Compensation Shares awardedShares.

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

The following table shows (in thousands), as of July 25, 2023, information regarding outstanding awards available under our compensation plans (including individual compensation arrangements) under which our equity securities may be delivered.

Plan category

 

(a)

Number of

securities to be

issued upon

exercise of

outstanding

options,

warrants and

rights

(in thousands)

 

 

(b)

Weighted-

average exercise

price of

outstanding

options,

warrants and

rights

 

 

(c)

Number of

securities

available for

future

issuance

(excluding

shares in

column (a)

(in thousands)

 

Equity compensation plans approved by security holders:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2018 Omnibus Incentive Plan (1)

 

 

2,019

 

 

$

0.30

 

 

 

-

 

Special Grant (2)

 

 

6,879

 

 

$

0.76

 

 

 

-

 

(1) Consists of our 2018 Omnibus Incentive Plans, as approved by our stockholders on November 8, 2017. See Note 14, “Stock-Based Compensation” of the Notes to current officers, employees, directors, advisors,the Consolidated Financial Statements included in our Annual Reports on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on July 7, 2023.

(2) Consists of 2 million shares as a special grant of common stock, as approved by our stockholders on January 7, 2020, 2.5 million shares as a special grant of common stock, as approved by our stockholders on January 11, 2021, 3.5 million shares as a special grant of common stock, as approved by our stockholders on October 15, 2021, and consultants and those used in the future to recruit specialists is not presently determinable.


8


3 million shares as special grant of common stock, as approved by stockholders on September 9, 2022.

Vote Required for Special Grant of Shares

The approval of the grant of shares of our common stock to current/new officers, employees, directors, advisors, and consultants Compensation Shares will require the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the shares of outstanding common stock present or represented at the Annual Meeting and entitled to vote thereat. In determining whether the proposal has been approved, abstentions will be counted as votes against the proposal, and broker non-votes will not be counted as votes for or against the proposal or as votes present and voting on the proposal.


The Board of Directors recommends that you vote FOR thegrant of shares of common stock to the Company’s current and new officers, employees, directors, advisors, and consultants. Proxies solicited by management for which no specific direction is included will be voted FOR thegrant of shares of common stock to the Company’s current and new officers, employees, directors, advisors, and consultants


The Compensation Shares.

PROPOSAL FIVE


APPROVAL OF IGC’S 2018 OMNIBUS INCENTIVE PLAN

At the Annual Meeting, the stockholders will be asked to approve the Company’s 2018 Omnibus Incentive Plan (“2018 Stock Plan”). The Plan is substantially the same as the one currently in force and previously approved by the shareholders in March 2008. The 2008 Stock Plan was effective for a period of 10 years expiring in March 2018. The Board of Directors believes that an adequate reserve of shares available for issuance under the Stock Plan is necessary to enable it to compete successfully with other companies to secure and retain valuable employees.

The 2018 Omnibus Incentive Plan was adopted by the Board of Directors on March 2, 2017. If approved by the shareholders, the 2018 Stock Plan would commence in April 2018 for a period of 10 years.

The 2008 Stock Plan was originally adopted by the Board of Directors in November 2007 and by the stockholders in March 2008. The substantial terms and provisions of the Stock Plan remain unchanged and can be found at www.sec.gov as Exhibit 10.1 to Form S-8 filed with the SEC on February 8, 2008, as amended by shareholders’ approval on or about June 23, 2008 via a Special Meeting.

Summary of the Provisions of the Stock Plan

The Stock Plan provides for the grant of incentive stock options, non-qualified stock options restricted and unrestricted stock awards and other stock-based awards to our and our subsidiary employees, directors, advisors and consultants. The formula for computing the number of shares eligible for grant under the Plan is increased each year on April 1, commencing April 1, 2018, by 15 percent of the number of shares issued and outstanding minus 28,272,667 shares are available for issuance under the Plan. In applying the formula, the Company will take into account grants made under the 2008 Omnibus Incentive Plan.

In accordance with the terms of the Stock Plan, our board of directors has authorized our compensation committee to administer the Stock Plan. The compensation committee may delegate part of its authority and powers under the Stock Plan to one or more of our directors and/or officers, but only the compensation committee can make awards to participants who are our directors or executive officers. In accordance with the provisions of the Stock Plan, our compensation committee will determine the terms of options and other awards, including:

·the determination of which employees, directors, advisors and consultants will be granted options and other awards;
·the number of shares subject to options and other awards;
·the exercise price of each option, which may not be less than fair market value on the date of grant;
·the schedule upon which options become exercisable;
·the terms and conditions of other awards, including conditions for repurchase, termination or cancellation, issue price and repurchase price; and
·all other terms and conditions upon which each award may be granted in accordance with the Stock Plan.

The maximum term of options granted under the Stock Plan is ten years. Awards are generally subject to early termination upon the termination of employment or other relationship of the participant with us or our subsidiaries, whether such termination is at our option or as a result of the death or disability of the participant. Generally, in the event of a participant’s termination for cause, all outstanding awards shall be forfeited.

In addition, our compensation committee may, in its discretion, amend any term or condition of an outstanding award provided (i) such term or condition as amended is permitted by our Stock Plan, and (ii) any such amendment shall be made only with the consent of the participant to whom such award was made, if the amendment is adverse to the participant.

9


If our common stock shall be subdivided or combined into a greater or smaller number of shares or if we issue any shares of common stock as a stock dividend, the number of shares of our common stock deliverable upon exercise of an option issued or upon issuance of an award shall be appropriately increased or decreased proportionately, and appropriate adjustments shall be made in the purchase price per share to reflect such subdivision, combination or stock dividend.

Upon a merger or other reorganization event, our board of directors may, in their sole discretion, take any one or more of the following actions pursuant to our Plan, as to some or all-outstanding awards:

·provide that all outstanding options shall be assumed or substituted by the successor corporation;
·upon written notice to a participant, (i) provide that the participant’s unexercised options or awards will terminate immediately prior to the consummation of such transaction unless exercised by the participant; or (ii) terminate all unexercised outstanding options immediately prior to the consummation of such transaction unless exercised by the optionee;
·in the event of a merger pursuant to which holders of our common stock will receive a cash payment for each share surrendered in the merger, make or provide for a cash payment to the optionees equal to the difference between the merger price times the number of shares of our common stock subject to such outstanding options, and the aggregate exercise price of all such outstanding options, in exchange for the termination of such options;
·provide that all or any outstanding options shall become exercisable in full immediately prior to such event; and
·provide that outstanding awards shall be assumed or substituted by the successor corporation, become realizable or deliverable, or restrictions applicable to an award will lapse, in whole or in part, prior to or upon the reorganization event.

Our stockholders may amend the Stock Plan. It may also be amended by the board of directors, provided that any amendment approved by the board of directors that is of a scope that requires stockholder approval as required in order to ensure favorable federal income tax treatment for any incentive stock options under Code Section 422 or for any other reason is subject to obtaining such stockholder approval. If adopted, our Stock Plan will expire on the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the plan by our stockholders.

MATERIAL FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS

The following discussion is with respect to the material federal income tax considerations relating to stock options and stock grants under the Stock Plan:

Incentive Stock Options:   Incentive stock options are intended to qualify for treatment under Section 422 of the Code. An incentive stock option does not result in taxable income to the optionee or deduction to the company at the time it is granted or exercised, provided that no disposition is made by the optionee of the shares acquired pursuant to the option within two years after the date of grant of the option nor within one year after the date of issuance of shares the optionee (referred to as the “ISO holding period”). However, the difference between the fair market value of the shares on the date of exercise and the option price will be an item of tax preference includible in “alternative minimum taxable income.” Upon disposition of the shares after the expiration of the ISO holding period, the optionee will generally recognize long term capital gain or loss based on the difference between the disposition proceeds and the option price paid for the shares. If the shares are disposed of prior to the expiration of the ISO holding period, the optionee generally will recognize taxable compensation, and we will have a corresponding deduction, in the year of the disposition, equal to the excess of the fair market value of the shares on the date of exercise of the option over the option price. Any additional gain realized on the disposition will normally constitute capital gain. If the amount realized upon such a disqualifying disposition is less than fair market value of the shares on the date of exercise, the amount of compensation income will be limited to the excess of the amount realized over the optionee’s adjusted basis in the shares.

Non-Qualified Options:     Options otherwise qualifying as incentive stock options, to the extent the aggregate fair market value of shares with respect to which such options are first exercisable by an individual in any calendar year exceeds $100,000, and options designated as non-qualified options will be treated as options that are not incentive stock options.

A non-qualified option ordinarily will not result in income to the optionee or deduction to us at the time of grant. The optionee will recognize compensation income at the time of exercise of such non-qualified option in an amount equal to the excess of the then value of the shares over the option price per share. Such compensation income of optionees may be subject to withholding taxes, and a deduction may then be allowable to us in an amount equal to the optionee’s compensation income.

An optionee’s initial basis in shares so acquired will be the amount paid on exercise of the non-qualified option plus the amount of any corresponding compensation income. Any gain or loss as a result of a subsequent disposition of the shares so acquired will be capital gain or loss.

10


Stock Grants:With respect to stock grants under the Stock Plan that result in the issuance of shares that are either not restricted as to transferability or not subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture, the grantee must generally recognize ordinary income equal to the fair market value of shares received. Thus, deferral of the time of issuance will generally result in the deferral of the time the grantee will be liable for income taxes with respect to such issuance. We generally will be entitled to a deduction in an amount equal to the ordinary income recognized by the grantee.

With respect to stock grants involving the issuance of shares that are restricted as to transferability and subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture, the grantee must generally recognize ordinary income equal to the fair market value of the shares received at the first time the shares become transferable or are not subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture, whichever occurs earlier. A grantee may elect to be taxed at the time of receipt of shares rather than upon lapse of restrictions on transferability or substantial risk of forfeiture, but if the grantee subsequently forfeits such shares, the grantee would not be entitled to any tax deduction, including as a capital loss, for the value of the shares on which he previously paid tax. The grantee must file such election with the Internal Revenue Service within 30 days of the receipt of the shares. We generally will be entitled to a deduction in an amount equal to the ordinary income recognized by the grantee.

Vote Required and Board of Directors’ Recommendation.

The affirmative vote of a majority of the votes present or represented by proxy and entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting of Stockholders, at which a quorum representing a majority of all outstanding shares of Common Stock of the Company is present and voting, either in person or by proxy, is required for approval of this proposal. Abstentions and “broker non-votes” will each be counted as present for purposes of determining the presence of a quorum. Abstentions will have the same effect as a negative vote on this proposal. “Broker non-votes,” on the other hand, will have no effect on the outcome of this vote.

The Board of Directors believes that the proposed adoption of the 2018 Omnibus Incentive Plan is in the best interests of the Company and the stockholders for the reasons stated above. Our Board of Directors recommends that you vote FOR the approval of this proposal to adopt the 2018 Omnibus Incentive Plan. Proxies solicited by management for which no specific direction is included will be voted FOR the approval of the adoption of IGC’s 2018 Omnibus Incentive Plan.

PROPOSAL SIX

FOUR

ADVISORY VOTE ON EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION


The Company is providing its stockholders with the opportunity to cast an advisory (non-binding) vote on executive compensation as described below in accordance with the SEC’s rules (commonly known as a “say-on-pay” proposal).

The Company’s goal for its executive compensation program is to attract, motivate and retain a talented, entrepreneurial and creative team of executives who will provide leadership for the Company’s success in dynamic and competitive markets. The Company seeks to accomplish this goal in a way that rewards performance and is aligned with its stockholders’ long-term interests. The Company believes that its executive compensation program, which emphasizes long-term equity awards, satisfies this goal and is strongly aligned with the long-term interests of our stockholders.


Please read the summary compensation table and other related compensation tables and narrative of this Proxy Statement, which provide detailed information on the compensation of our executive officers.

logo_2sm.jpg | FYE2023 Form DEF 14A

The Company believes the compensation program for the named executive officers is instrumental in helping the Company achieve stronger operating and financial performance. In accordance with the requirements of Section 14A of the Exchange Act and the related rules of the SEC, the Board requests the shareholders vote to approve the following resolution at the Annual Meeting:


RESOLVED, that the compensation paid to the named executive officers as disclosed in this Proxy Statement pursuant to the SEC’s executive compensation disclosure rules (which disclosure includes the Compensation Discussion and Analysis, the compensation tables, and the narrative disclosures that accompany the compensation tables), is hereby approved.


11


Vote Required and Board of Directors Recommendation

Approval of the compensation of the Company’s named executive officers as disclosed pursuant to the SEC’s compensation disclosure rules will require the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the shares of outstanding common stock present or represented at the Annual Meeting and entitled to vote thereat, on an advisory basis. In determining whether the proposal has been approved, abstentions will be counted as votes against the proposal and broker non-votes will not be counted as votes for or against the proposal or as votes present and voting on the proposal. As advisory votes, this proposal is not binding upon the Company. However, the Compensation Committee values the opinions expressed by stockholders and will consider the outcome of the vote when making future compensation decisions.


The Board of Directors recommends that you vote FOR Proposal SixFour regarding the compensation of the Company’sCompanys named executive officers.Proxies solicited by management for which no specific direction is included will be voted FOR Proposal Six.Four.

PROPOSAL FIVE

ADVISORY VOTE ON FREQUENCY OF SAY-ON-PAY VOTES

As described in Proposal Four above, the Company’s stockholders are being provided the opportunity to cast an advisory vote on the Company’s executive compensation program. The advisory vote on executive compensation described in Proposal Four above is referred to as a “say-on-pay vote.”

This Proposal Five affords stockholders the opportunity to cast an advisory vote on how often the Company should include a say-on-pay vote in its proxy materials for future annual meetings of stockholders (or special meetings of stockholders for which the Company must include executive compensation information in the proxy statement for such special meeting). Under this Proposal Five, stockholders may vote to have the say-on-pay vote every year, every two years or every three years.

The Company believes that say-on-pay votes should be conducted every three years so that stockholders may express their views on the Company’s executive compensation program. The Company’s Compensation Committee, which administers the Company’s executive compensation program, values the opinions expressed by stockholders in these votes and will continue to consider the outcome of these votes in making its decisions on executive compensation.

Vote Required and Board of Directors Recommendation

Approval of the frequency of say-on-pay votes will require the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the shares of outstanding common stock present or represented at the Annual Meeting and entitled to vote thereat on an advisory basis. In determining whether the proposal has been approved, abstentions will be counted as votes against the proposal and broker non-votes will not be counted as votes for or against the proposal or as votes present and voting on the proposal. As advisory votes, this proposal is not binding upon the Company. However, the Compensation Committee values the opinions expressed by stockholders and will consider the outcome of the vote when making future compensation decisions.

The Board of Directors recommends that stockholders vote FOR Proposal Five to hold say-on-pay votes EVERY THREE YEARS (as opposed to every year or every two years). Proxies solicited by management for which no specific direction is included will be voted FOR Proposal Five.

logo_2sm.jpg | FYE2023 Form DEF 14A

PROPOSAL SEVEN


SIX

THE ADJOURNMENT PROPOSAL


If, at the Annual Meeting of stockholders on November 8, 2017,August 18, 2023, the number of shares of the Company’s common stock present or represented and voting in favor of adoption or rejection of the proposals is insufficient to adopt such proposals under the applicable rules and regulations, the Company’s Executive Chairman intends to move to adjourn the Annual Meeting in order to enable our Board of Directors to solicit additional proxies.

In this Proposal Seven,Four, we are asking you to authorize Ram Mukunda or Richard Prins to vote in favor of an adjournment of the Annual Meeting to another time and place for the purpose of soliciting additional proxies. If the stockholders approve the Adjournment Proposal, we could adjourn the Annual Meeting, and any adjourned session of the Annual Meeting, and use the additional time to solicit additional proxies, including the solicitation of proxies from stockholders that have previously submitted proxies. Among other things, approval of the Adjournment Proposal could mean that, even if we had received proxies representing a sufficient number of votes against some of the proposals, we could adjourn the Annual Meeting without a vote on that particular proposal and seek to convince the holders of those shares to change their votes to votes in favor of adoption of such proposal.

If our stockholders do not approve the Adjournment Proposal, our Board of Directors may not be able to adjourn the Meeting to a later date in the event there are not sufficient votes at the time of the Meeting.

Vote Required and Board Recommendation

The Adjournment Proposal, if a quorum is present, requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes, which could be cast by holders of all shares of stock entitled to vote thereon, which are present in person or by proxy at the Annual Meeting. In the absence of a quorum, the stockholders present, by majority vote, may adjourn the Meeting. Broker non-votes will have no effect on the outcome of the vote on the Adjournment Proposal.

Our Board of Directors recommends that you vote FOR the Adjournment Proposal. Proxies solicited by management for which no specific direction is included will be voted FOR the Adjournment Proposal.

logo_2sm.jpg | FYE2023 Form DEF 14A

SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT

Principal Stockholders

The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as October 5, 2017,of July 25, 2023, by each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5 percent5% of our outstanding shares of common stock, each of our executive officers and directors, and all of our officers and directors as a group.


Beneficial ownership is determined in accordance with the rules of the Securities and Exchange CommissionSEC and does not necessarily indicate beneficial ownership for any other purpose. Under these rules, beneficial ownership includes those shares of common stock over which the stockholder has sole or shared voting or investment power. It also includes shares of common stock that the stockholder has a right to acquire within 60 days through the exercise of any option, warrant or other right. The percentage ownership of the outstanding common stock, which is based upon shares of common stock outstanding as October 5, 2017,of July 25, 2023, is based on the assumption, expressly required by the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission,SEC, that only the person or entity whose ownership is being reported has exercised options or warrants to purchase shares of our common stock.


12


Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock beneficially owned by them. Unless otherwise noted, the nature of the ownership set forth in the table below is common stock of the Company. The table below sets forth as of October 5, 2017,July 25, 2023, except as noted in the footnotes to the table, certain information with respect to the beneficial ownership of the Company’s common stock by (i) all persons or groups, according to the most recent Schedule 13D or Schedule 13G filed with the Securities and Exchange CommissionSEC or otherwise known to us, to be the beneficial owners of more than 5 percent5% of the outstanding common stock of the Company, (ii) each director of the Company, (iii) the executive officers named in the Summary Compensation Table, and (iv) all such executive officers and directors of the Company as a group.

  Shares Owned 
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner (1) 
Number of Shares
Beneficially Owned
  
Percentage
of Class*
 
Ranga Krishna (2)  1,522,676   5.5%
         
Ram Mukunda  3,389,233   12.1%
         
Richard Prins  457,000   1.6%
         
Sudhakar Shenoy  830,000   3.0%
         
John Cherin (3)  325,000   1.2%
         
All Executive Officers and Directors as a group (3 persons)      16.8%

 

 

Shares Owned

(in thousands)

 

Name and Address of Beneficial Owner/Named Executive Officers and Directors: (1)

 

Number of Shares

Beneficially Owned (3)

 

 

Percentage

of Class*

 

Ram Mukunda (2)

 

 

7,710

 

 

 

12

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Claudia Grimaldi

 

 

1,518

 

 

 

3

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Richard Prins

 

 

1,915

 

 

 

3

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

James Moran

 

 

590

 

 

 

1

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All Executive Officers and Directors as a group (4 persons)

 

 

11,733

 

 

 

19

%

*Based on approximately 27,905,272fully diluted 63,082,750 shares of common stock outstanding as of October 5, 2017.


July 25, 2023.

(1)

Unless otherwise indicated, the address of each of the individuals listed in the table is c/o India Globalization Capital,IGC Pharma, Inc., 4336 Montgomery Avenue, Bethesda,10224 Falls Road, Potomac, MD 20814.20854.

(2)

Based on available Form 4 and 13G filings including

The beneficial ownership table does not include 827,417 shares held beneficially by Wells Fargo & Company and International Pharma Trials.

(3)Mr. Cherin, CFO, Treasurer, and Principal Accounting Officer (PAO), has been replacedof common stock that is owned by Mr. Shajy Mathilakathu andMukunda’s spouse for which Mr. Rohit Goel, Co-Principal Accounting Officers, effective September 29, 2017.Mukunda has no voting, dispositive or financial rights.

(3)

The beneficial ownership table includes approximately 8.9 million shares granted but not vested/issued to individuals listed in the table as of July 25, 2023.

logo_2sm.jpg | FYE2023 Form DEF 14A

Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance
Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, requires our directors, executive officers and persons who beneficially own more than 10 percent of our common stock to file reports of their ownership of shares with the SEC.  Such executive officers, directors and stockholders are required by SEC regulation to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) reports they file.  Based solely upon review of the copies of such reports received by us, our senior management believes that all reports required to be filed under Section 16(a) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017 were filed in a timely manner.

DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS, AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE OF THE COMPANY


Executive Officers

Information about our executive officers, and Directors

directors

The names, ages, and positions of our executive officers and directors as of October 5, 2017, areJuly 25, 2023, were as follows:

Name Positions Age  Director Since  Term will Expire 
            
Ram Mukunda President, Chief Executive Officer and Director (Class C director) 59   2005   2019 
              
Mr. Rohit Goel Co-Principal Financial and Accounting Officer 23       
              
Mr. Shajy Mathilakathu Co-Principal Financial and Accounting Officer 49       
              
Richard Prins Chairman of the Board of Directors (Class B director) 60   2007   2018 
              
Sudhakar Shenoy Director (Class A director) 70   2005   2017 
On September 27, 2017, India Globalization Capital, Inc. (IGC) appointed Mr. Rohit Goel and Mr. Shajy Mathilakathu to the positions of Co-Principal Accounting Officers replacing John Cherin as CFO, Treasurer, and Principal Accounting Officer (PAO), effective September 29, 2017.

Name

 

Class

 

Age

 

Position

 

Director Since

 

Term will Expire

Ram Mukunda

 

C

 

64

 

President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director

 

2005

 

2025

Richard Prins

 

B

 

66

 

Chairman of the Board of Directors

 

2007

 

2024

James Moran

 

C

 

78

 

Director

 

2022

 

2025

Claudia Grimaldi

 

A

 

52

 

Vice President, Principal Financial Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, and Director

 

2022

 

2026

The principal occupations for the past five years (and, in some instances, for prior years) of each of our two recently appointed Co-Principal Accounting Officers, Mr. Shajy Mathilakathuexecutive officers and Mr. Rohit Goel,directors are set out below and for others in Proposal One. There are no family relationships between any of our executive officers or directors.

13

Mr. Rohit Goel has a B.Com (honors) in Accounting and Tax (Commerce) from Delhi University, India. His previous experience includes leading USGAAP audit teams and leading or assisting in the statutory audit of limited and private companies in various industries including telecom, stock brokerage, manufacturing, education, banking and digital marketing. He has worked on preparing process, workflow, implementation of SAP based accounting systems, worked on several accounting projects for clients based in US, Spain and UK, and assisted an audit team that conducted an asset audit for clients in Africa.  In 2012 and 2013 he passed the CA CPT and CA IPCC exams. From September 2013 to March 2014 he worked as a Chartered Accountant (CA) trainee for Mahesh K Aggarwal & Co.  And from April 2014 to September 11, 2016 he worked as a Chartered Accountant trainee, with AJSH & Co.  In September 2016, he founded BnA Consultancy to provide accounting, taxation and statutory compliance services.
Mr. Shajy Mathilakathu has been working as an accountant at IGC’s Indian subsidiary Techni Bharathi Private Limited (“TBL”) since 1996 and since 2011 as Assistant General Manager of Accounting.  He has worked in all aspects of accounting with varying responsibilities. Since 2011, he has been primarily and progressively responsible for USGAAP accounting, consolidation of financial statements, preparing the Forms 10-Q and Forms 10-K, and as the interface to our independent auditors.

Board of Directors; Independence

directors and independence

Our Board of Directors is divided into three classes (Class A, Class B, and Class C) with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class serving a three-year term. The term of office of the Class A director, consisting of Sudhakar Shenoy,Claudia Grimaldi, will expire at the 20172026 annual meeting of stockholders.stockholders assuming Ms. Grimaldi is reelected. The term of office of the Class B director, currently consisting of Richard Prins, will expire at the 20182024 annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the Class C director, currently consisting of Ram Mukunda technically expiredand James Moran, will expire at the 20162025 annual meeting of stockholders. These individuals have played a key role in identifying and evaluating prospective acquisition candidates, selecting the target businesses, and structuring, negotiating and consummating acquisitions.

The NYSE American, upon which our shares are listed, requires the majority of our Board, or in the case of a smaller reporting Company at least 50% of our Board, to be “independent.” The NYSE American listing standards define an “independent director” generally as a person, other than an officer or an employee of the company,Company, who does not have a relationship with the companyCompany that would interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment. Consistent with these standards, the Board of Directors has determined that Messrs. Prins and ShenoyMoran are independent directors.

Board leadership structure

The Board believes its current leadership structure best serves the objectives of the Board’s oversight of management, the Board’s ability to carry out its roles and responsibilities on behalf of IGC’s shareholders, and IGC’s overall corporate governance. The Board also believes that the separation of the Chairman and CEO roles allows the CEO to focus his time and energy on operating and managing IGC, while leveraging the Chairman’s experience and perspectives. The Board periodically reviews its leadership structure to determine whether it continues to best serve IGC and its shareholders.

Board oversight of risk management

The Board is responsible for overseeing the major risks facing the Company, while management is responsible for assessing and mitigating the Company’s risks on a day-to-day basis. The Board has designated the Audit Committee with the responsibility for overseeing enterprise risk management. The Audit Committee discusses the steps management has taken to monitor and mitigate these risks, if any. In establishing and reviewing IGC’s executive compensation, the Compensation Committee considers whether the compensation program is focused on long-term shareholder value creation and whether it encourage short-term risk taking at the expense of long-term results. The Compensation Committee has also reviewed IGC’s compensation program and has concluded that these programs do not create risks that are reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on IGC. Other Board committees also consider risks within their areas of responsibility and apprise the Board of significant risks and management’s response to those risks.

logo_2sm.jpg | FYE2023 Form DEF 14A

Audit committee

Our Board of Directors has established an Audit Committee, currently composed of two independent directors who report to the Board of Directors. Messrs. Prins and Shenoy,Moran, each of whom is an independent director under the NYSE American listing standards, serve as members of our Audit Committee. Mr. Prins is the Chairman of our Audit Committee. In addition, we have determined that Messrs. Prins and ShenoyMoran are “audit committee financial experts,” as that term is defined under Item 407 of Regulation S-K of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.S-K. The Audit Committee is responsible for meeting with our independent accountants regarding, among other issues, audits and the adequacy of our accounting and control systems.

The audit committee charter is followed by the committee and is available on the Company’s website.

Compensation Committee

committee

Our Board of Directors has established a Compensation Committee composed of two independent directors, Messrs. ShenoyMoran, and Prins. Mr. ShenoyPrins is the current Chairman of our Compensation Committee. The Compensation Committee’s purpose is to review and approve the compensation paid to our officers and directors and to administer our 2008 Omnibus Incentive Plan, and if adopted (i) the grant of the Compensation Shares and (ii) the 2018 Omnibus Incentive Plan.

As per the compensation committee charter, candidate experience, knowledge, and performance are used to evaluate the candidate. The compensation is accordingly decided for the candidate as per the industry standards. The compensation committee charter is followed by the committee and is available on the Company’s website.

Compensation Committee Interlockscommittee interlocks and Insider Participation

insider participation

Our Compensation Committee is comprised of two independent members of the Board of Directors, Richard Prins, and Sudhakar Shenoy.James Moran. No executive officer of the Company served as a director or member of the compensation committeeCompensation Committee of any other entity.

The Compensation Committee met four times during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017 and was responsible for determining executive compensation and the award of stock, and stock options to employees, advisors, and directors during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017.Fiscal 2023. No consultants were used by the Compensation Committee during this fiscal year.

Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee

corporate governance committee

In the future, we intend to establish a nominating and corporate governance committee. The primary purpose of the nominating and corporate governance committee will be to identify individuals qualified to become directors, recommend to the Board of Directors the candidates for election by stockholders or appointment by the Board of Directors to fill a vacancy, recommend to the Board of Directors the composition and chairs of Board of Directors committees, develop and recommend to the Board of Directors guidelines for effective corporate governance, and lead an annual review of the performance of the Board of Directors and each of its committees. We do not have any formal process for stockholders to nominate a director for election to our Board of Directors. Currently, nominations are selected or recommended by a majority of the independent directors as stated in Section 804(a) of the NYSE American Company Guide.

Since the Company is a smaller reporting company with limited officers and directors, the committee currently does not have a nomination committee charter. The Board of Director nominations occur by either selection or recommendation of a majority of the independent directors.

Disclosure Committee

The CEO and the PFO supervise and oversee the Disclosure Committee. The Board has appointed Mr. Richard Prins as the Chairperson of the Disclosure Committee. The Disclosure Committee’s responsibilities are to design, implement and regularly evaluate the Company’s internal controls and procedures, to ensure that the company provides the stakeholders, including the SEC, security holders, and the investment community, disclosures that comply with regulations and other compliance obligations. The Disclosure Committee will review all required material and relevant reports related to disclosure statements, including annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, press releases, and social media containing financial information and other related public documents. The Disclosure Committee meets not less than once per quarter and reviews and reassess the adequacy of the Disclosure Committee’s Charter at least annually.

Ownership Guidelines

To align the interests of the Board of Directors directly with the interests of the stockholders, the Committee recommends that each Board member maintain a minimum ownership interest in our company. We have implemented IGC’s Stock Ownership Guidelines requiring directors to retain ownership of 35% of the common stock that they receive upon joining the Board, if any, and that they receive as part of any compensation during their tenure on the Board, if any, except that the Stock Ownership Guidelines shall not apply where a director transfers stock to a personal trust(s) or makes a gift.

logo_2sm.jpg | FYE2023 Form DEF 14A
14



Audit Committee Financial Expert

The Audit Committee will at all times be composed exclusively of “independent directors” who are “financially literate,” as defined under the NYSE American listing standards.standards, who understand the audit committee functions. The NYSE American’s listing standards define “financially literate” as being able to read and understand fundamental financial statements, including a company’s balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement. In addition, we must certify to the NYSE American that the Audit Committee has, and will continue to have, at least one member who has past employment experience in finance, accounting, or accounting,auditing, requisite professional certification in accounting, or other comparable experience or background that results in the individual’s financial sophistication.sophistication, along with understanding of internal control over financial reporting. The Board of Directors has determined that Messrs. Prins and ShenoyMoran satisfy the NYSE American’s definition of financial sophistication and qualify as “audit committee financial experts,” as defined under rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SEC.

Board and Committee Meetings

committee meetings

During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017,Fiscal 2023, there were thirteenfive (5) Board meetings, five (5) meetings of the Audit Committee and fourtwo (2) Compensation Committee meetings, all of which were attended, either in person or telephonically, by all of our directors of the Board and all of the members of the committees, respectively.


Communications with Directors

the Board

Any director may be contacted by writing to him c/omatter intended for the SecretaryBoard, or any individual member of the CompanyBoard, should be directed to Investor Relations at the Company’s principal executive offices.  Communicationsoffice, with a request to forward the communication to the non-management directors as a group may be sentintended recipient. In general, any shareholder communication delivered to the Independent Directors c/oCompany for forwarding to Board members will be forwarded in accordance with the Secretary ofshareholder’s instructions. However, the Company atreserves the same address.  We will promptlyright not to forward without screening other than normal security procedures for all our mail, all correspondence to the indicated directorBoard members any abusive, threatening, or directors.

otherwise inappropriate materials.

Indemnification Agreements

agreements

We are party to indemnification agreements with each of the executive officers and directors. Such indemnification agreements require us to indemnify these individuals to the fullest extent permitted by law. Under the terms of the indemnification agreements, we intend to agree to indemnify our officers and directors against expenses, judgments, fines, penalties, or other amounts actually and reasonably incurred by the independent director in connection with any proceeding if the officer or director acted in good faith and did not derive an improper personal benefit from the transaction or occurrence that is the basis of the proceeding.

Annual Meeting Attendance

meeting attendance

All directors, either in person or telephonically, attended the 2022 annual shareholders’ meeting. We do not have a formal policy requiring directors to attend stockholder meetings but we encouragethe members of theour Board of Directors to attend the annual meetingstockholder meetings in person or by telephone or video conference.

Corporate governance, code of stockholders. One of our directorsconduct and our management attended the last annual meeting of shareholders.

Code of Conduct and Ethics
ethics

A code of business conduct and ethics is a written standard designed to deter wrongdoing and to promote (a) honest and ethical conduct, (b) full, fair, accurate, timely, and understandable disclosure in regulatory filings and public statements, (c) compliance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations, (d) the prompt reporting violation of the code and (e) accountability for adherence to the code. The Company has adopted a written code of ethics (the “Senior Financial Officer Code“Code of Ethics”) that applies to the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and senior financial officers, including the Company’s Principal Accounting Officer, Controller, and persons performing similar functions (collectively, the “Senior Financial Officers”), in accordance with applicable federal securities laws and the rules of the NYSE American.American, and to all employees. Investors or any other person may view our Senior Financial Officer Code of Ethics free of charge on the corporate governance subsection of the investor relations portion of our website at www.igcinc.us. The Company has established separate audit and compensation committees that are described below.elsewhere in this Proxy Statement. The Company does not have a separate nominating committee. Accordingly, Board of Director nominations occur by either selection or recommendation of a majority of the independent directors.

EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Compensation Discussion and Analysis
Overview

All our data, except accounting data, is stored in the cloud on multiple servers, which helps us mitigate the overall risk of Compensation Policy

Our Compensation Committee is empoweredlosing data. As part of corporate governance, we also have a cybersecurity policy that employees are required to review and approve, or in some cases recommend for the approval of the full Board of Directors the annual compensation for the executive officers of our company.  This Committee has the responsibility for establishing, implementing and monitoring our compensation strategy and policy.  Among its principal duties, the Committee ensures that the total compensation of the executive officers is fair, reasonable and competitive.
comply with to safeguard their systems from cyber-attacks.

logo_2sm.jpg | FYE2023 Form DEF 14A
15



Objectives

Director and Philosophies of Compensation

Officer Derivative Trading and Hedging Policy

The primary objective ofCompany has adopted a policy which prohibits our compensation policy, including the executive compensation policy, is to help attractofficers, non-employee directors, and retain qualified, energetic managers whokey personnel from purchasing financial instruments (including prepaid variable forward contracts, equity swaps, collars, and exchange funds), or otherwise engage in transactions, that hedge or offset, or are enthusiastic about our mission and products and services.  The policy is designed to rewardhedge or offset, any decrease in the achievement of specific annual and long-term strategic goals aligning executive performance with company growth and stockholder value.  In addition, the Board of Directors strives to promote an ownership mentality among key leaders and the Board of Directors.


Setting Executive Compensation
The compensation policy is designed to reward performance.  In measuring executive officers’ contribution to our company, the Compensation Committee considers numerous factors including our growth and financial performance as measured by revenue, gross margin and net income before taxes, among other key performance indicators.  Regarding most compensation matters, including executive and director compensation, management provides recommendations to the Compensation Committee; however, the Compensation Committee does not delegate any of its functions to others in setting compensation.  The Compensation Committee does not currently engage any consultant related to executive or director compensation matters.
Stock price performance has not been a factor in determining annual compensation because the trading price of sharesmarket value of our common stock is subject to a variety of factors outside of management’s control.  We do not subscribe to an exact formula for allocating cash and non-cash compensation.  However, a significant percentage of total executive compensation is performance-based.  Historically, the majoritystock.

Delinquent Section 16(a) reports

Section 16(a) of the incentivesSecurities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, requires our officers, directors, and beneficial owners of more than 10% of our equity securities to executivestimely file certain reports regarding ownership of and transactions in our securities with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of the required filings must also be furnished to us. Section 16(a) compliance was required during Fiscal 2023. Based solely on a review of Forms 3, 4, and 5 and amendments thereto furnished to us pursuant to Rule 16a-3(e) under the Exchange Act, we believe that Fiscal 2023’s filing requirements under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act have been in the form of non-cash incentives in order to better align the goals of executivessatisfied, except for (1) a Form 4 reporting four transactions by Ram Mukunda filed with the goals of stockholders.

Elements of Company’s Compensation Plan
The principal components of compensation for our executive officers are:
·  base salary,
·  performance-based incentive cash and stock compensation,
·  right to purchase our common stock at a preset price (via stock options), and
·  401-K plan with matching contribution, and other benefits.
Base Salary
We provide named executive officers and other employees with base salary to compensate them for services rendered during the fiscal year.  Base salary ranges for named executive officers are determined for each executive basedSEC on his or her position and responsibility.  During its review of base salaries for executives, the Committee primarily considers:
-market data,
-internal review of the executives’ compensation, both individually and relative to other officers, and
-  individual performance of the executive.
Salary levels are typically evaluated annually as part of our performance review process, as well as uponJune 28, 2022, (2) a promotion or other change in job responsibility.
Performance-Based Incentive Compensation
The management incentive plan gives the Committee the latitude to design cash and stock-based incentive compensation programs to promote high performance and achievement of corporate goals, encourage the growth of stockholder value and allow key employees to participate in the long-term growth and profitability of our company.
Ownership Guidelines
To align the interests of the Board of Directors directlyForm 4 reporting three transactions by Claudia Grimaldi filed with the interests ofSEC June 28, 2022, (3) a Form 4 reporting three transactions by John Lynch filed with the stockholders,SEC on June 28, 2022, (4) a Form 4 reporting three transactions by Richard K. Prins filed with the Committee recommends that each Board member maintainSEC on June 28, 2022, (5) a minimum ownership interest in our company.  Currently, the Compensation Committee recommends that each Board member ownForm 4 reporting fourteen transactions by Ram Mukunda filed on June 28, 2023, (6) a minimum of 5,000 shares of our common stock with such stock to be acquired withinForm 4 reporting seven transactions by Richard Prins filed on June 28, 2023, (7) a reasonable time following election to the Board.

Employee Stock Option Program
The employee stock option program assists us to:
·  enhance the link between the creation of stockholder value and long-term executive incentive compensation,
·  provide an opportunity for increased equity ownership by executives, and
·  maintain competitive levels of total compensation.
16


Stock option award levels will be determined basedForm 4 reporting seven transactions by James Moran filed on market dataJune 28, 2023 and will vary among participants based(8) a Form 4 reporting seven transactions by Claudia Grimaldi filed on their positions within the company and are granted at the Committee’s regularly scheduled meeting.
As of March 31, 2017, a total of 3,491,278 shares of common stock have been awarded and there are no options outstanding and exercisable.  As of March 31, 2017, there are no shares of common stock available for future grants of options or stock awards.
Perquisites and Other Personal Benefits
We provide some executive officers with perquisites and other personal benefits that we and the Committee believe are reasonable and consistent with our overall compensation program to enable us to attract and retain superior employees for key positions.  The Committee periodically reviews the levels of perquisites and other personal benefits provided to named executive officers.  Some executive officers receive the use of company automobiles and an assistant among other perquisites.  Each employee of our company is entitled to term life insurance, premiums for which are paid by us.  In addition, each employee is entitled to receive certain medical and dental benefits, part of the cost of which the employee funds, and participation in the Company administered 401-K plan.
Accounting and Tax Considerations
Our stock option grant policy will be impacted by the implementation of FASB ASC 718 (previously referred to as SFAS No. 123R), which was adopted in the first quarter of fiscal year 2006.  Under this accounting pronouncement, we are required to value unvested stock options granted prior to the adoption of FASB ASC 718 under the fair value method and expense those amounts in the income statement over the stock option’s remaining vesting period.
Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code restricts deductibility of executive compensation paid to our chief executive officer and each of the four other most highly compensated executive officers holding office at the end of any year to the extent such compensation exceeds $1,000,000 for any of such officers in any year and does not qualify for an exception under Section 162(m) or related regulations.  The Committee’s policy is to qualify its executive compensation for deductibility under applicable tax laws to the extent practicable.  In the future, the Committee will continue to evaluate the advisability of qualifying its executive compensation for full deductibility.
June 28, 2023.

Compensation for Executive Officers of the Company

We pay an affiliate of our CEO $4,500 per month for office space and certain general and administrative services, provided in Maryland and $6,100 per month for facilities provided in Washington State. These amounts are not intended as compensation to our CEO.

The following table sets forth information concerning all cash and non-cash compensation awarded to, earned by, or paid to (i) all individuals serving as the Company’ssmaller reporting company’s principal executive officer or acting in a similar capacity during the last two completed fiscal years,year (PEO), regardless of compensation level, andlevel; (ii) the Company’ssmaller reporting company’s two most highly compensated executive officers other than the principalPEO who were serving as executive officers serving at the end of the last two completed fiscal years (collectively,year and whose compensation exceeded $100,000 a year; and (iii) up to two additional individuals for whom disclosure would have been provided pursuant to paragraph (ii) but for the “Named Executive Officers”).

fact that the individual was not serving as an executive officer of the smaller reporting company at the end of the last completed fiscal year.

Summary Compensation Table


Name and Principal Position Year Salary  Bonus  Option/ Stock Awards  Total Compensation 
Ram Mukunda (1) 2017 $300,000  $-  $125,000  $425,000 
President and Chief Executive Officer 2016 $300,000  $-  $269,000  $569,000 
                   
John Cherin (2) 2017 $20,500  $   $40,000  $60,500 
CFO, Treasurer and Principal Financial and Accounting Officer                  

(in thousands)

Name and Principal Position

 

Year

 

Salary

($)

 

 

Bonus

($)

 

 

Stock Awards (2)

($)

 

 

Other compensation (3)

($)

 

 

Total Compensation

($)

 

Ram Mukunda

 

2023

 

 

360

 

 

 

300

 

 

 

301

 

 

 

45

 

 

 

1,006

 

President and CEO

 

2022

 

 

320

 

 

 

200

 

 

 

4,974

 

 

 

53

 

 

 

5,547

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Claudia Grimaldi

 

2023

 

 

150

 

 

 

75

 

 

 

75

 

 

 

20

 

 

 

320

 

Vice President, CCO, and PFO

 

2022

 

 

150

 

 

 

75

 

 

 

516

 

 

 

20

 

 

 

761

 

(1)

IGC is contractually obligated

During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023, the Company owes approximately $92 thousand to pay the CEO an annual compensation of $300,000. Mr. Ram Mukunda and $135 thousand to Ms. Claudia Grimaldi.

(2)

The amounts actually paid were $300,000 and $150,000 in fiscal 2017 and 2016, respectively. The Option/Stock amounts reportedAwards represent the fair value of stock awards to the named executive officer as computed using the closing price forat the day the issuance was granted. For Mr. Mukunda theof grant. The Stock Awards include vested and unvested grants of stock grant includes a special grant approved by the stockholders on September 12, 2014 that vested in November 2015 and includedawards as reflected in the Option/table titled “Stock Awards at Fiscal Year End.” In Fiscal 2022, they also include two categories of Stock Awards for fiscal year endedthat are set out in the tables titled “Performance Based Stock Awards” and “Market Price Based Stock Awards.” As of March 31, 2016.2023, 1 million Performance Stock Awards were issued.

(3)

Includes life insurance, 401 (k) contribution, and health insurance(s).

logo_2sm.jpg | FYE2023 Form DEF 14A
(2)Mr. Cherin was appointed as the CFO on November 15, 2016, prior to that he was a consultant to the Company. The amounts disclosed herein were paid to Mr. Cherin’s wholly owned Limited Liability Corporation during fiscal 2017.  Effective September 29, 2017, IGC appointed Mr. Rohit Goel and Mr. Shajy Mathilakathu to the positions of Co-Principal Accounting Officers replacing John Cherin as CFO, Treasurer, and Principal Accounting Officer (PAO).

17


Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year End

Compensation toDirectors

(in thousands)

The following table sets forth information with respect to outstanding equity awards held byshows, for fiscal 2023, the Company’s named Executive Officers as of March 31, 2017. 

Name Shares   
Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options (#)
Exercisable
  
Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options (#)
Unexercisable
  
Option
Exercise
Price
($)
  
Option
Expiration
Date
 
Ram Mukunda  2,288,433(1)  -   -  $-   - 
                      
John Cherin (3)  300,000(2)  -   -  $-   - 

(1)Include those granted under the 2008 Omnibus Incentive Plan and a grant voted on by the shareholders on September 12, 2014 that vested on November 4, 2015.
(2)Includes 50,000 shares for previous consulting services and an additional 250,000 shares vesting over two years to serve as the Company’s CFO.
(3)Effective September 29, 2017, IGC appointed Mr. Rohit Goel and Mr. Shajy Mathilakathu to the positions of Co-Principal Accounting Officers replacing John Cherin as CFO, Treasurer, and Principal Accounting Officer (PAO).

Compensation of Directors
No cash compensation was awarded to, earned by, or paid to non-employee directors who served on the directors inBoard during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017 for service as directors.  In the fiscal years ended 2017 and 2016, our non-employee directors each received 150,000 and 105,000 shares of our common stock from the 2008 Omnibus Incentive Plan, respectively,year.

Name

 

Number of

Stock Awards

 

 

Total

Compensation

($)(1)

 

Richard Prins

 

 

175

 

 

 

75

 

James Moran

 

 

100

 

 

 

43

 

(1)

The Total Compensation represents the fair value of stock awards to the named director as computed using the closing price at the day of grant. The Stock Awards include vested and unvested grants of stock awards as reflected in the table titled “Stock Awards at Fiscal Year End.”  

Stock Awards at Fiscal Year End

(in fiscal 2015, an additional special grant of 250,000 shares each, which was approved by the Company’s shareholders on September 12, 2014 that vested on November 4, 2015.  All compensation paid to our employee director is set forth in the tables summarizing executive officer compensation above.  thousands)

Name

 

Number of

unvested Stock Awards (#)

 

 

Value of unvested

Stock Awards ($)

 

 

Value of vested

Stock Awards in Fiscal Year ($)

 

 

Total Value of

Stock Awards ($)

 

Ram Mukunda

 

 

3,200

 

 

 

3,352

 

 

 

1,460

 

 

 

4,812

 

Claudia Grimaldi

 

 

312

 

 

 

292

 

 

 

182

 

 

 

474

 

Richard Prins

 

 

592

 

 

 

609

 

 

 

304

 

 

 

913

 

James Moran

 

 

117

 

 

 

78

 

 

 

63

 

 

 

141

 

The OptionStock Awards column reflectsreflect the grant date fair value, in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 718, Compensation — Stock Compensation (formerly Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 123R) for awards pursuant to the Company’s equity incentive program.

Assumptions

Included in the tables above are two categories of Stock Awards: (i) performance-based stock awards that are based on achieving milestones in the area of drug development; and (ii) market price-based awards, based on advancing the IGC stock price. Both categories are set out in the two tables titled “Performance Based Stock Awards” and “Market Price Based Stock Awards.”

The Company believes that as of March 31, 2023, all Stock Awards are probable. As of March 31, 2023, 1 million Performance based Stock Awards were issued.

The assumptions used in calculating fair value and amortization schedule based on the calculationprobability of these amounts for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017achieving milestones and targets are included in Note 16,14, “Stock-Based Compensation” to the Company’s audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017.Fiscal 2023, included in Proxy Statement. The Company cautions that the amounts reported in the Director Compensation Table for these awards may not represent the amounts that the directors will actually realize from the awards. Whether, and to what extent, a directoran individual realizes value will depend on the Company’s actual operating performance and stock price fluctuations.

For more information please see Note 12 -Related Party Transactions to the Company’s audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017.

Employment Contracts

contracts

Ram Mukunda has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of our companyCompany since its inception. On July 14, 2014 we, IGC-MNovember 18, 2021, the Company, and Mr. Mukunda entered into the 20142021 CEO Employment Agreement.Agreement that expires on November 17, 2026. Pursuant to the 20142021 CEO Employment Agreement which will be effective until July 2019, we pay Mr. Mukunda a base salary of $300,000$360,000 per year. The Employment Agreement provides that the Board of Directors of our companyCompany may review and update the targets and amounts for the net revenue and salary and contract bonuses on an annual basis. Mr. Mukunda is entitled to benefits, including insurance, participation in company-wide 401(K)401(k), reimbursement of business expenses, 20 days of annual paid vacation, sick leave, domestic help, driver, cook and a car (subject to partial reimbursement by Mr. Mukunda of leaserental payments for the car and reimbursement of business expenses).

The term of the Employment Agreement is five years, extended by one year after which employment will become at-will.  The Employment Agreement is terminable by us for death, disability and cause. In the event of a termination without cause, including a change of control, we would be required to pay Mr. Mukunda his full1.5 times the average total compensation as disclosed in the previous two 10-K filings prior to termination. In addition, all unvested shares would be subject to immediate vesting.

logo_2sm.jpg | FYE2023 Form DEF 14A

Claudia Grimaldi has served as Vice President, Principal Financial Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, and Director of our subsidiaries since May 9, 2018. On May 5, 2023, the Company and Ms. Grimaldi entered into an Employment Agreement that expires on May 8, 2028 (the 2023 Employment Agreement). Pursuant to the Employment Agreement, we pay Ms. Grimaldi a base salary of $200,000 per year. The Employment Agreement provides that the Company may review and update performance targets and contract bonuses on an annual basis. Ms. Grimaldi is entitled to benefits, including insurance, participation in company-wide 401(k), reimbursement of business expenses, 20 days of annual paid vacation, sick leave, and a car (subject to partial reimbursement by Ms. Grimaldi of rental payments for three years.

the car). In the event of termination without cause, including a change of control, we would be required to pay Ms. Grimaldi 1.5 times her compensation. In addition, unvested shares that would otherwise vest in a 12-month period would be subject to immediate vesting.

For non-employee directors, the Company has a standard compensation arrangement such as fees for committee service, service as chairperson of the board, or a committee, and meeting attendance.

Compensation Risk Assessment

risk assessment

In setting compensation, the Compensation Committee considers the risks to our stockholders and to achievement of our goals that may be inherent in our compensation programs. The Compensation Committee reviewed and discussed its assessment with management and outside legal counsel and concluded that our compensation programs are within industry standards and are designed with the appropriate balance of risk and reward to align employees’ interests with those of our companyCompany and do not incent employees to take unnecessary or excessive risks. Although a portion of our executives’ and employees’ compensation is performance-based and “at risk,” we believe our compensation plans are appropriately structured and are not reasonably likely to result in a material adverse effect on our company.

Company.

Pay versus performance disclosure

As required by Section 953(a) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and Item 402(v) of Regulation S-K, we are providing the following information about the relationship between executive compensation actually paid (as defined by SEC rules) and certain financial and operational performances of the Company.

The Compensation Committee did not consider the pay versus performance disclosure when making its compensation decisions for the 2023 fiscal year. The amounts in the table below are calculated in accordance with SEC rules and do not represent amounts actually earned or realized by our named executive officers. As required by Item 402(v) of Regulation S-K, we are providing the following information about the relationship between executive compensation actually paid and certain financial and operational performance of the Company for each of the last two completed fiscal years. In determining the “compensation actually paid” or realized compensation (“CAP”) to our other Named Executive Officers (“NEO”), we are required to make various adjustments to amounts that have been previously reported in the Summary Compensation Table in previous years, as the SEC’s valuation methods for this section differ from those required in the Summary Compensation Table (“SCT”).

logo_2sm.jpg | FYE2023 Form DEF 14A
18


Securities Authorized

The table below summarizes compensation values both previously reported in our SCT, as well as the adjusted values required in this section for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

The followingFiscal 2022 and 2023.

Pay Versus Performance Table

(in thousands)

Included in the table shows, asbelow is the annual compensation paid to our executives and our financial performance for each of March 31, 2017, information regarding outstanding awards available under our compensation plans (including individual compensation arrangements) under which our equity securities may be delivered.

Plan category
(a)
Number of
securities to be
issued upon
exercise of
outstanding
options,
warrants and
rights (1)
(b)
Weighted-
average exercise
price of
outstanding
options,
warrants and
rights
(c)
Number of
securities
available for
future
issuance
(excluding
shares in
column (a)(1)
Equity compensation plans approved by security holders:
2008 Omnibus Incentive Plan (2)$-$-$-

the two previous years.

Year

 

Summary Compensation Table Total for PEO(1)

  

Compensation Actually Paid to PEO(3)

  

Average Summary Compensation Table Total for Non-PEO NEOs Officer(2)

  

Average Compensation Actually Paid to Non-PEO NEOs(3)

  

Value of Initial Fixed $100 Investment Based On: Total Shareholder Return(4)

  

Net Income (Loss)

 

(a)

 

(b)

  

(c)

  

(d)

  

(e)

  

(f)

  

(g)

 

2023

 $1,006  $(1,453) $320  $103  $33  $(11,927)

2022

 $5,547  $918  $761  $358  $56  $(15,210)

(1)Consists ofFor the fiscal years 2023 and 2022, this is the total compensation, as disclosed in the Summary Compensation Table above, for Mr. Ram Mukunda, our 2008 Omnibus Incentive Plan, as amended.  See Note 16, “Stock-Based Compensation” of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in this report.Principal Executive Officer (“PEO”).
(2)There are no options outstandingFor the fiscal years 2023 and 2022, this is the total compensation, as disclosed in the Summary Compensation Table above, for Ms. Claudia Grimaldi, our non-PEO NEO.
(3)Compensation Actually Paid is the Summary Compensation Table total for the PEO (column (b) above) and Summary Compensation Table total for the Non-PEO (column (d) above), as applicable, with the adjustments pursuant to Item 402(v)(2)(iii)(C) of Regulations S-K:
(4)The value is based on a fixed investment of one hundred dollars in our common stock measured from the market close on March 31, 2017. 2021 (the last trading day of fiscal 2021) through and including the end of the fiscal year for each year reported in the table.

  

FYE 2023

  

FYE 2022

  

FYE 2023

  

FYE 2022

 

(in thousands)

 

PEO

  

PEO

  

Non-PEO

  

Non-PEO

 

SCT Total Compensation

 $1,006   5,547   320   761 

Subtract: Grant date fair value of equity awards granted during the covered year

  (301)  (4,974)  (75)  (516)

Add: Fair value as of end of covered year of equity awards granted during covered year that were outstanding and unvested as of end of covered year

  159   3,067   40   279 

Add: Change in fair value from end of prior year to end of current year for equity awards granted in prior years that were outstanding and unvested at end of current year

  (1,804)  (3,055)  (129)  (250)

Add: Fair value as of vesting date of equity awards that were granted and vested in same year

  79   333   20   83 

Add: Change in fair value from end of prior year to vesting date of equity awards granted in prior years that vested in covered year

  (592)  -   (72)  - 

Subtract: Fair value at end of prior year of equity awards granted in prior years that failed to vest (forfeited) in covered year

  -   -   -   - 

Add: Dollar amount of dividends or other earnings paid on equity awards in covered year prior to vesting date that are not included in total compensation for covered year

  -   -   -   - 

Compensation Actually Paid

 $(1,453)  918   103   358 

logo_2sm.jpg | FYE2023 Form DEF 14A

Relationships Between Executive Compensation Actually Paid and the Companys Financial and Operational Performance Measures

Our board and Compensation Committee generally seek to align the interests of stockholders with our named executive officers by incentivizing long-term performance and through the use of short-term cash incentives. Therefore, we do not specifically align our performance measures with “compensation actually paid” (as computed in accordance with Item 402(v) of Regulation S-K) for a particular year and the Compensation Committee did not consider this information in making its executive compensation decisions. Instead, our executives are paid based on the achievement of a set of predetermined corporate milestones, which are focused on driving long term stockholder value. Our executives are compensated at least annually with service-based restricted stock units or stock options to ensure that their interests are aligned with those of our stockholders. In accordance with Item 402(v) of Regulation S-K, we are providing the following descriptions of the relationships between information presented in the Pay Versus Performance table.

Relationship Between Compensation Actually Paid and Operational Milestones

The Company does not look to net income (loss) as a performance measure for its executive compensation program and instead looks at operational metrics, such as drug development milestones, pipeline progress, R&D spend, regulatory compliance, intellectual property, partnerships and collaborations, and general financial health of the Company. The compensation actually paid for both our PEO and non-PEO NEO decreased between fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2023. This is primarily because the compensation is structured with stock and the stock did not perform well despite meeting operational milestones.

The compensation actually paid to our named executive officers from fiscal 2023 versus fiscal 2022 generally reflects cash bonuses and stock awards some of which vest based on milestones and others based on time. The milestones that were met in each of the fiscal years include, a) completion of a Phase 1 trial on safety and tolerability on IGC-AD1, b) regulatory permissions to initiate a Phase 2 trial on IGC-AD1, c) initiation of a Phase 2 trial for IGC-AD1, d) expansion of the pipeline from one drug to two (IGC-AD1, TGR-63), and e) expansion of the IP portfolio. In addition, the company substantially decreased net loss reflecting a diligent commitment to the financial health of the Company.

Relationship Between Compensation Actually Paid and Company Total Shareholder Return

Part of the overall compensation is the stock price. In fiscal years 2022 and 2023 the value of the stock did not meet the metrics set by the Compensation committee and the board. The PEO and non-PEO were therefore not compensated based on shareholder return or value of stock during the fiscal year in each of fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2023. These stock milestones are described under the Narrative to Summary Compensation Table section of this Proxy Statement.

CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE


Certain Relationships and Related Transactions

During the last two fiscal years, we have not entered into any material transactions or series of transactions that would be considered material in which any officer, director, or beneficial owner of 5 percent5% or more of any class of our capital stock, or any immediate family member of any of the preceding persons, had direct or indirect material interest, nor are there any such transactions presently proposed, other than the agreements with the affiliates of our CEO and CFO as described under “Executive Compensation – Compensation for Executive Officers of the Company.”

Review, approval, or ratification of related party transactions

We are party to indemnification agreements with each of the executive officers and director.  Such indemnification agreements require us to indemnify these individuals to the fullest extent permitted by law.


Review, Approval or Ratification of Related Party Transactions 

We do not maintainhave a formal written procedurepolicy for the review and approval of transactions with related persons. It is our policy for the disinterested members of our Board to review all related party transactions on a case-by-case basis. To receive approval, a related-party transaction must have a business purpose for us and be on terms that are fair and reasonable to us and as favorable to us as would be available from non-related entities in comparable transactions transactions.

logo_2sm.jpg | FYE2023 Form DEF 14A

Director Independence
The NYSE American, upon which our shares are listed, requires the majority of our Board to be “independent.”  The NYSE American listing standards define an “independent director” generally as a person, other than an officer or an employee of the company, who does not have a relationship with the company that would interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment.  Consistent with these standards, the Board of Directors has determined that Richard Prins and Sudhakar Shenoy are independent directors. 

AUDIT INFORMATION


Principal Accountant Fees and Services

AJSH

Manohar Chowdhry & Co LLP, Chartered Accountants (“AJSH & Co LLP”)Associates (MCA) is our Principal Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm engaged to examine our financial statements for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016.Fiscal 2023. During the Company’s two most two recent fiscal years ended March 31, 20162023, and 20152022, and through JuneJuly 25, 2016,2023, the Company did not consult with AJSH & Co LLPMCA on (i) the application of accounting principles to a specified transaction, either completed or proposed, or the type of audit opinion that may be rendered on the Company’s financial statements, and AJSH & Co LLP haveMCA has not provided either a written report or oral advice to the Company that was an important factor considered by the Company in reaching a decision as to any accounting, auditing, or financial reporting issue; or (ii) the subject of any disagreement, as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(iv) of Regulation S-K and the related instructions, or a reportable event within the meaning set forth in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K.

19


Audit Relatedrelated and Other Fees


other fees

The table below shows the fees that we paid or accrued for the audit and other services provided by AJSHManohar Chowdhry & Co LLPAssociates for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2017Fiscal 2023 and 2016.  Except as specified otherwise in the table, we paid theFiscal 2022.

Audit fees to AJSH & Co LLP.

Audit Fees 

This category includes the audit of our annual financial statements, review of financial statements included in our annual and quarterly reports and services that are normally provided by the independent registered public accounting firms in connection with engagements for those fiscal years. This category also includes advice on audit and accounting matters that arose during, or as a result of, the audit or the review of interim financial statements.

Audit-Related Fees 

Internal control audit fees

This category includes the audit of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework: (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).

Audit-related fees

This category consists of assurance and related services by the independent registered public accounting firms that are reasonably related to the performance of the audit or review of our financial statements and are not reported above under “Audit Fees.” The services for the fees disclosed under this category include services relating to our registration statement and consultation regarding our correspondence with the SEC.

Tax Fees 


fees

This category consists of professional services rendered for tax compliance, tax planning, and tax advice. These services include tax return preparation and advice on state and local tax issues.

All Other Fees 


other fees

This category consists of fees for other miscellaneous items.

  

(in thousands)

 
  

March 31,

 
  

2023

  

2022

 
         

Audit fees - Manohar Chowdhry & Associates

 $66  $64 

Audit-related fees - Manohar Chowdhry & Associates

  -   - 

Tax fees

  11   9 

All other fees

      - 

Total

 $77  $73 

logo_2sm.jpg | FYE2023 Form DEF 14A
  March 31, 2017  March 31, 2016 
Audit Fees – AJSH & Co LLP $80,000  $70,000 
Audit-Related Fees  5,000   5,000 
Tax Fees  -   - 
All other Fees  -   - 
Total $85,000  $75,000 

Policy on Pre-Approvalpre-approval of Auditaudit and Permissible Non-audit Servicespermissible non-audit services of Independent Auditors

independent auditors

Consistent with SEC policies regarding auditor independence, the audit committee of our Board of Directors has responsibility for appointing, setting compensation, and overseeing the work of the independent auditor. In recognition of this responsibility, our Board of Directors has established a policy to pre-approve all audit and permissible non-audit services provided by the independent auditor. Prior to engagement of the independent auditor for the next year’s audit, management may submit, if necessary, an aggregate of services expected to be rendered during that year for each of the following four categories of services to our Board of Directors for approval.

1.

Audit services include audit work performed in the preparation of financial statements and audit of internal controls, as well as work that generally only the independent auditor can reasonably be expected to provide, including comfort letters, statutory audits, and attest services and consultation regarding financial accounting and/or reporting standards.

2.

Audit-Related services are for assurance and related services that are traditionally performed by the independent auditor, including due diligence related to mergers and acquisitions, employee benefit plan audits, and special procedures required to meet certain regulatory requirements.

3.

Tax services include all services performed by the independent auditor’s tax personnel except those services specifically related to the audit of the financial statements, and includes fees in the areas of tax compliance, tax planning, and tax advice.

4.

Other Fees are those associated with services not captured in the other categories.

Prior to engagement, our Board of Directors pre-approves these services by category of service. The fees are budgeted, and our Board of Directors requires the independent auditor and management to report actual fees versus the budget periodically throughout the year by category of service. During the year, circumstances may arise when it may become necessary to engage the independent auditor for additional services not contemplated in the original pre-approval. In those instances, our Board of Directors requires specific pre-approval before engaging the independent auditor.

20


Our audit committee may delegate pre-approval authority to one or more of its members. The member to whom such authority is delegated must report, for informational purposes only, any pre-approval decisions to our Board of Directors at its next scheduled meeting.

Pre-Approved Services

Pre-approved services

The Audit Committee’s charter provides for pre-approval of audit, audit-related and tax services to be performed by the independent auditors. The Audit Committee approved the audit, audit-related and tax services to be performed by independent auditors and tax professionals in 2017.Fiscal 2023. The charter also authorizes the Audit Committee to delegate to one or more of its members pre-approval authority with respect to permitted services. The decisions of any Audit Committee member to whom pre-approval authority is delegated must be presented to the full Audit Committee at its next scheduled meeting. The Audit Committee has not delegated such authority to its members.

logo_2sm.jpg | FYE2023 Form DEF 14A

Audit Committee Report

committee report

The Audit Committee of the Board is composed of two directors, each of whom meets the current NYSE American test for independence. The Committee acts under a written charter adopted by the Board. The Audit Committee has prepared the following report on its activities with respect to the Company’s audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017Fiscal 2023 (the “AuditedAudited Financial Statements”)Statements):

·  

The Audit Committee reviewed and discussed the Company’s Audited Financial Statements with management;


·  

The Audit Committee discussed with AJSHManohar Chowdhry & Co LLPAssociates, the Company’s independent auditors for fiscal year 2017,Fiscal 2023, the matters required to be discussed by Statements on Auditing Standards No. 61 (Codification of Statements on Auditing Standards, AU §380),AS 1300, as adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in Rule 3200T;Board;

·  

The Audit Committee received from the independent auditors the written disclosures regarding auditor independence and the letter required by Independence Standards Board Standard No. 1 (Independence Discussions with Audit Committees), discussed with AJSHManohar Chowdhry & Co LLP,Associates, its independence from the Company and its management, and considered whether AJSHManohar Chowdhry & Co LLP’sAssociates’ provision of non-audit services to the Company was compatible with the auditor’s independence; and

·  

Based on the review and discussion referred to above, and in reliance thereon, the Audit Committee recommended to the Board that the Audited Financial Statements be included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017,Fiscal 2023, for filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.


All members of the Audit Committee concur in this report.

AUDIT COMMITTEE:

Richard Prins

James Moran

logo_2sm.jpg | FYE2023 Form DEF 14A
       Sudhakar Shenoy

21

PROPOSALS FOR 20182024 ANNUAL MEETING

Under the regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission,SEC, if you desire to make a proposal to be acted upon at the 20182024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, you must deliver the proposal, in proper form, to the Secretary of the Company, no later than June 14, 2018,March 28, 2024, in order for the proposal to be considered for inclusion in the Company’s Proxy Statement and form of proxy for that meeting. If next year’s Annual Meeting is held on a date more than 30 calendar days from November 8, 2018, a stockholder proposal must be received by a reasonable time before the Company begins to print and mail its proxy solicitation materials.  Any stockholder proposals will be subject to the requirements of the proxy rules adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission.SEC. The address for the Secretary of the Company is 4336 Montgomery Ave, Bethesda, MD 20814.

10224 Falls Road, Potomac, Maryland.

Our Bylaws also prescribe the procedure that a stockholder must follow to nominate directors or to bring other business before stockholders’ meetings. To nominate a candidate for director or to bring other business before a meeting, notice must be received by the Secretary of the Company (i) no later than August 10, 2018,May 20, 2024, and no earlier than July 11, 2018April 20, 2024 or (ii) if the date of the 20182024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders is advanced by more than thirty days or delayed by more than sixty days from the anniversary date of this Annual Meeting, no laterearlier than the close of business on the later of the sixtiethone hundred and twentieth day prior to such Annual Meeting or not later than the ninetieth day prior to such annual meeting or the tenth day following the day on which public announcement of the date of such meeting is first made by the Corporation and no earlier than the close of business on the ninetieth day prior to such Annual Meeting.

In addition to the requirements contained in our Bylaws, to comply with the universal proxy rules (when effective), stockholders who intend to solicit proxies in support of director nominees other than our nominees must provide notice that sets forth the information required by Rule 14a-19 under the Exchange Act no later than June 19, 2024 (the 60th day prior to the first anniversary of the annual meeting for the preceding year’s annual meeting).

Notice of a nomination for director must describe various matters regarding the nominee and the stockholder giving the notice. Notice of other business to be brought before the Annual Meeting must include a description of the proposed business, the reasons therefore, and other specified matters. The nominating committee will consider candidates recommended by stockholders in the same manner it considers other candidates. Any stockholder may obtain a copy of the Company’s Bylaws, without charge, upon written request to the Secretary of the Company, at the address set forth above.

ANNUAL REPORT

A copy of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023, has been provided to all stockholders as of July 26, 2023. Stockholders are referred to the report for financial and other information about us, but such report is not incorporated in this proxy statement and is not a part of the proxy soliciting material.

logo_2sm.jpg | FYE2023 Form DEF 14A
22


23

PROXY CARD


THIS PROXY IS SOLICITED ON BEHALF OF

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF INDIA GLOBALIZATION CAPITAL,IGC PHARMA, INC.

for the November 8, 2017August 18, 2023, Annual Meeting of Stockholders and any postponement(s) or adjournment(s) thereof.

The undersigned hereby: (a) acknowledges receipt of the Notice of the Joint Annual Stockholders’ Meeting of the stockholders ofIGC Pharma, Inc. (formerly India Globalization Capital Inc.) to be held on November 8, 2017, (the jointAugust 18, 2023,(the “Annual Meeting”), and the associated Proxy Statement; (b) appoints Ram Mukunda, as proxy, with the power to appoint a substitute; (c) authorizes each proxy to represent and vote, as designated below, all of the shares of common stock of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share, held of record by the undersigned at the close of business on October 5, 2017,June 21, 2023, at the Annual Meeting and at any postponement(s) or adjournment(s) thereof; and (d) revokes any proxies previously given.

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING THE AVAILABILITY OF PROXY MATERIALS FOR THE ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS TO BE HELD ON NOVEMBER 8, 2017:

AUGUST 18, 2023:

This Proxy Statement, the Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders and Our Annual Report to Stockholders are available at http://www.igcinc.us.www.igcpharma.com.

1.

The Board

To elect Ms. Claudia Grimaldi to the Company’s board of Directors recommends a vote FOR the directors of the Company listed below, to serve as a Class A director until the Annual Meeting2026 annual meeting of Stockholders, following the 2019 (Ram Mukunda) and 2020 (Sudhakar Shenoy) fiscal years and until such directors’director’s respective successorssuccessor shall be duly elected and qualified, or until such directors’director’s earlier death, resignation or removal from office.office;

MR. RAM MUKUNDA             

MS. CLAUDIA GRIMALDI

FOR

WITHHOLD

MR. SUDHAKAR SHENOY   

FOR
WITHHOLD

2.

2.The Board of Directors recommends a vote FOR ratification of

To ratify the appointment of AJSHManohar Chowdhry & Company (“AJSH”)Associates, as the Company’s independent auditorsregistered public accounting firm for the Company for the2024 fiscal year ending March 31, 2018.year;

    FOR

AGAINST

ABSTAIN


3.The Board of Directors recommends a vote FOR the issuance of up to 2,000,000 additional shares of our common stock to Bricoleur Partners, L.P., to be used for the payment of principal and/or interest.

3.

     FOR
AGAINST
ABSTAIN
4.The Board of Directors recommends a vote FOR approval of

To approve the special grant of 1,900,0003,000,000 shares of common stock to be granted from time to time to the Company’s current and future officers, directors,new employees, advisors, directors, and consultants as determined by the Compensation Committee.board of directors, pursuant to certain metrics including performance, vesting, and incentive as set by the board of directors and or the CEO;

     FOR

AGAINST

ABSTAIN

5.The Board of Directors recommends a vote FOR approval of the Company’s 2018 Omnibus Incentive Plan (“Stock Plan”) for a period of 10 years, on substantially the same terms as the 2008 Omnibus Incentive Plan that is set to expire in March 2018.

4.

     FOR
AGAINST
ABSTAIN
6.
The Board of Directors recommends a vote FOR approval,

To approve, by a non-binding advisory vote, of the compensation of the Company’s named executive officers as disclosed pursuant to the SEC’s compensation disclosure rules (which disclosure includes the Compensation Discussion and Analysis, the compensation tables and the narrative disclosures that accompany the compensation tables) (the “Say-on-Pay Proposal”).

     FOR

AGAINST

ABSTAIN

5.

To approve, by a non-binding advisory vote, to set the frequency of say-on-pay votes (cast an advisory vote on the Company’s executive compensation program) at future annual meetings of stockholders to EVERY THREE YEARS.

    1 YEAR

2 YEARS  

3 YEARS

ABSTAIN

     FOR

AGAINST

ABSTAIN

6.

7.The Board of Directors recommends a vote FOR

To act upon such other matters as may properly come before the Adjournment Proposal which allows the Chairman or Executive ChairmanAnnual Meeting, including any proposal to adjourn or postpone of the meetingAnnual Meeting to a later date or dates, if necessary, to permit further solicitation ofand vote of proxies.proxies (the “Adjournment Proposal”).

     FOR

AGAINST

ABSTAIN

This Proxy Card, when properly executed, will be voted in the manner directed herein by the undersigned stockholder(s). If no direction is made, this Proxy will be voted FOR the proposals set forth above. Please sign, date and return this Proxy as promptly as possible in the envelope provided.

 Dated: __________________, 2023

Dated:    __________________, 2017

X ________________________________

X _________________________

X __________________
X __________________

Signature(s) of Stockholders


Joint owners should each sign. Signature(s) should correspond with the name(s) printed on your stock certificates. Attorneys, executors, administrators and guardians should give full title. If a corporation, please sign in full corporate name by the president or other authorized officer. If a partnership, please sign in partnership name by authorized person.