Whether you’re job-hunting, negotiating a rise, or planning pay bands for a growing team, you need numbers you can trust, not numbers you guess at. This India Salary Guide 2027 compiles the latest projections from HR research firms and government labour data to reveal where salaries are headed across industries, roles, and cities.
Most of this information applies to FY 2026-27 (April 2026 to March 2027), the time frame that most staffing and rewards firms use when they release forward-looking salary reports. Here are the numbers and what they mean for you.
How Salaries in India Are Expected to Grow in 2027
Two of India’s most cited compensation studies tell the same broad story: growth is continuing, but it is settling into a more steady, selective pattern than the last couple of years.
- Average salary increments are projected to be in the range of 8.6-10.2% across 23 industries and 20 cities in FY27, down from a wider band of 6.2-11.3% in FY26, according to TeamLease Services’ Jobs and Salaries Primer 2026-27.
- Based on data from over 1,400 organisations across 45 industries, Aon’s Annual Salary Increase and Turnover Survey 2025-26 pegged the overall India increment for 2026 at 9.1%, slightly higher than 8.9% in 2025.
Both studies agree on the same directionality. Pay rises are not across the board. They are concentrated in jobs and industries that require specialised, execution-heavy skills.
India Salary Guide 2027 by Industry
Based on the two reports above, here are the industries compared.
Highest-Growth Industries
- EV and EV Infrastructure: 10.2% (TeamLease), the highest-paying sector in the FY27 outlook
- Real Estate and Infrastructure: 10.2% (Aon)
- Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs): 10.1% (Aon)
- FinTech: 10% (TeamLease)
- Automotive and Vehicle Manufacturing: 9.9% (Aon)
- Engineering Design Services: 9.9% (Aon)
- Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals: 9.7% (TeamLease)
Steady-Growth Industries
- Engineering and Manufacturing: 9.5% (Aon)
- Energy (Oil, Gas, Power): 9.4% (Aon)
- Life Sciences: 9.4% (Aon)
- Global Capability Centres (GCCs): 9.3% (Aon)
- Retail: 8.9% to 9.5%, depending on the report
- Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG): 9.1% (Aon)
- Insurance and BPO: 8.9% to 9.5% (TeamLease)
Slower-Growth Industries
- E-commerce: 8.8% (Aon)
- Banking: 8.6% to 8.8%
- Chemicals: 8.3% (Aon)
- Technology Consulting and Services: 6.8% (Aon), the lowest projected increase this year
- Life Insurance: 8.2% (Aon)
Except for technology consulting. Core IT roles continue to be in high demand across other industries, but pure-play IT services companies are expected to hike salaries at a slower pace than almost every other vertical in this India Salary Guide 2027.
India Salary Guide 2027 by Job Role
Increment percentages tell you only part of the story. The TeamLease report also details the expected increase for certain roles, and a few of them are way above the average.
| Job Role | Projected Increment (FY27) |
| Electrical Engineers | 11.2% |
| Project Engineers | 10.7% |
| Quality Control Inspectors | 10.9% |
| IT Support Executives | 10.1% to 10.3% |
| Quality Assurance Engineers | 10.2% |
| Site Engineers | 10.2% |
| EHS Officers | 10.1% |
| Relationship Executives | 10.1% |
See a pattern here. Most of the jobs that had the biggest gains are hands-on jobs like engineering, quality, safety, and field support. This is in line with what both reports say is a shift toward compensation that pays for applied skills, rather than just general experience.
Salary Growth by City in 2027
Metro cities still lead in absolute pay, but the fastest growth is spreading out. TeamLease data shows:
- Chennai leads in projected city-level growth at 9.7%
- Pune and Hyderabad are tied at 9.6% each
- Ahmedabad 9.5%
Non-metro centres like Visakhapatnam, Nagpur and Jaipur are also gaining ground, driven by expansion in manufacturing and fresh industrial investment outside the traditional metro belt. If you are hiring or looking for jobs outside Delhi, Mumbai or Bengaluru, this move is worth watching.
What Is Driving These Salary Trends
Both reports repeatedly generate a handful of forces:
- Specialised skills are in high demand. Specialised roles such as quality inspector and electrical engineer require specific technical qualifications or certifications and are growing faster than general roles.
- Demand is increasingly sector-specific rather than broad-based. Companies are focusing their budgets on the functions that drive their growth, rather than across-the-board hikes.
- Non-metro hiring is picking up steam. With industrial corridors and manufacturing hubs competing harder for talent outside the big four metros, local salaries are being pushed up.
- Global Capability Centres are still growing. Pay growth remains steady in that segment as India’s GCCs continue hiring in finance, technology, and operations.
Freshers vs. Experienced Professionals: What Changes
Salary guides are often read the same way, no matter what stage you are at in your career, but freshers and experienced professionals should be looking at this data differently.
For freshers, industry-level increment numbers matter less than starting pay bands, because you’re negotiating a first offer, not a rise on an existing salary. What matters more is what sectors are actively hiring at an entry level now. If you’re early in your career, all of EV, fintech, healthcare, and GCCs are ramping up their entry-level intake in lockstep with their salary budgets, making them worth a closer look.
The percentages of the increment are more directly applicable to experienced professionals, as they tend to be perched on top of an existing salary. A 10 per cent increase on a senior engineer’s package is a much bigger absolute number than the same percentage on an entry-level role. This is also a good place to change jobs for better pay than staying where you are. The pay jump on a change of job in India has historically been much higher than an annual pay hike at the same company, especially in high-demand functions such as engineering, quality, and specialised technical support.
Skills Pushing Salaries Higher in 2027
Besides industry and role, some skill areas keep coming up as pay drivers in multiple reports:
- Expertise in quality and compliance, especially in manufacturing and engineering, where inspectors and QA engineers are getting double-digit hikes
- India’s push to electric vehicles and infrastructure relies on EV and battery technology skills
- Digital and fintech skills, such as payments, lending technology, and financial analytics
- Site execution and field engineering capabilities, reflecting the continued growth of industrial and infrastructure projects beyond metro cities.
- Healthcare & pharma-specific technical skills, as that segment continues to see above-average increments
- If your current role covers any of these areas, now is a good time to benchmark your pay against the market instead of waiting for your annual review.
The Bigger Picture: Average Salary in India
Numbers specific to the industry are important, but knowing where the overall baseline is also helps. In March 2026, India’s Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation released the 2025 Annual Report of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS). It stated that the average monthly earnings of a regular wage or salaried worker were ₹24,217 for men and ₹18,353 for women.
The national figure counts the entire workforce, not just the corporate and white-collar portion. For metro city professionals working in urban, formal-sector jobs, actual pay is a lot more than this baseline, especially in IT, finance, and engineering jobs.
How to Use This Salary Guide
If you are negotiating an offer or setting pay bands for your team, here are some things to remember:
- First, look at what is happening in your industry. A 9% increase in banking is not the same as a 9% increase in EV manufacturing because the starting salary bases are so different.
- Imagine your city. Growth in Tier 2 cities is catching up with metros, so your number shouldn’t be decided by location alone.
- Skills, not time. Weight. Reports show that specialised, execution-focused skills are growing faster than years of experience alone across the board.
- Go over your numbers with each cycle. Salary trends can vary from year to year. So take any one report as a starting point and not a fixed answer.
- Look at a few sources. It’s a good idea to compare data points before making an offer or counter-offer, as no single salary report covers all roles in every-sized company.
How CP HR Services Can Help
One thing is to read a salary report. Applying it in a real hiring decision or a real career move is another. As CP HR Services supports companies in recruitment, hiring assessments, and background verification, we get to see how pay bands actually work in offer negotiations across different industries.
We also offer HR consulting services, including monthly retainer HR and on-demand support, for businesses that need help setting fair, competitive compensation structures without guesswork. If you are a job seeker trying to find your niche, CP HR Services’ career counselling programmes can help you understand how your skills and experience translate into true market value. Learn more about these services on the CP HR Services website.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the expected salary increment in India for 2027?
TeamLease and Aon have estimated average increments across the industry to be in the range of 8.6 to 10.2 per cent, while the overall number for corporate India is expected to be around 9.1 per cent.
2. Which industries pay the highest salary hikes in 2027?
EV and EV infrastructure, real estate and infrastructure, and NBFCs are topping the list in the latest TeamLease and Aon reports, with all projected in the 10% to 10.2% range.
3. Which cities in India will see the fastest salary growth?
Chennai is ahead with 9.7, followed by Pune and Hyderabad at 9.6 and Ahmedabad at 9.5. Non-metro cities like Visakhapatnam and Nagpur are also gaining steam.
4. Is the IT industry still a high-paying sector in India?
Core IT positions in other industries remain strong, according to Aon’s data, but pure technology consulting and services firms are likely to see the slowest salary growth this year, of about 6.8%.
5. How is the average salary in India calculated?
Government data like the PLFS report includes average monthly earnings for all regular wage and salaried workers across the country. Industry salary guides are specific to a role, sector, and experience level within the formal corporate workforce.
The India Salary Guide 2027 is based on projections available at the time of writing. The actual pay decisions are company-, role-, and negotiation-dependent, so treat these numbers as a benchmark, not a guarantee.