New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) High salaries in the corporate sector is not a "dogmatic" or an ideological issue with the government, according to Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Salman Khurshid.

"We do believe in essential freedom in a democracy. The ultimate decision on managerial remuneration should rest with the shareholders," said Khurshid at a conference on the Company Bill 2009 here Tuesday.

"The government is aware that hiring top minds to run a company will come at a price, but that should be objectively and not subjectively arrived at," he said at the conference, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

"Even so, if some limits have to be placed, it is you (the corporate sector) who would have to tell us how."

On corporate social responsibility, Khurshid said the country needed "to go beyond affirmative action" and that such initiatives could be given a fillip through fiscal relief.

"These issues need to be debated threadbare for their possible incorporation in the Companies Bill 2009, which has been tabled in the Lok Sabha and is now being vetted by the Standing Committee of Parliament," he added.