IT Salaries in India Are Rising Fast — Are You Keeping Up?
India’s IT sector employs over 5 million professionals and continues to be one of the highest-paying industries in the country. But salaries vary dramatically based on your role, skills, experience, company, and location. Knowing your market value is the first step to negotiating the salary you deserve.
Software Engineer / Developer Salaries 2026
- Fresher (0-1 years): ₹3.5 LPA – ₹8 LPA
- Junior (1-3 years): ₹6 LPA – ₹14 LPA
- Mid-level (3-6 years): ₹12 LPA – ₹25 LPA
- Senior (6-10 years): ₹22 LPA – ₹45 LPA
- Lead / Architect (10+ years): ₹40 LPA – ₹80 LPA+
Product companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Flipkart pay significantly higher than service companies like TCS, Infosys, and Wipro at all experience levels.
Data Science and Machine Learning Salaries
- Data Analyst (0-2 years): ₹4 LPA – ₹9 LPA
- Data Scientist (2-5 years): ₹10 LPA – ₹22 LPA
- Senior Data Scientist (5+ years): ₹20 LPA – ₹40 LPA
- ML Engineer (3-6 years): ₹15 LPA – ₹35 LPA
- AI Research Scientist: ₹25 LPA – ₹60 LPA+
DevOps and Cloud Engineer Salaries
- DevOps Engineer (1-3 years): ₹7 LPA – ₹16 LPA
- Senior DevOps Engineer (3-6 years): ₹14 LPA – ₹28 LPA
- Cloud Architect (6+ years): ₹25 LPA – ₹55 LPA
- Site Reliability Engineer: ₹12 LPA – ₹30 LPA
Cybersecurity Salaries
- Security Analyst (1-3 years): ₹5 LPA – ₹12 LPA
- Penetration Tester (2-5 years): ₹8 LPA – ₹20 LPA
- Security Engineer (4-7 years): ₹15 LPA – ₹30 LPA
- CISO / Security Architect: ₹35 LPA – ₹80 LPA+
Highest Paying IT Cities in India
- Bengaluru: 20-30% above national average
- Hyderabad: 15-25% above national average
- Pune: 10-20% above national average
- Mumbai: 15-25% above national average
- Delhi/NCR: 10-20% above national average
Skills Commanding Salary Premiums in 2026
- Generative AI and Large Language Models
- Kubernetes and container orchestration
- AWS and multi-cloud architecture
- Cybersecurity and ethical hacking
- React Native and Flutter for mobile
Use ProfileNova’s free Salary Calculator to benchmark your current compensation and calculate your expected hike during appraisal season.