This report covers salary data from 1,200+ offers made across 85 companies hiring in India during January–October 2025. Roles are benchmarked by city, experience band, and function. All figures are in annual CTC (Cost to Company) and represent the 25th, 50th (median), and 75th percentile.
Methodology
Data is drawn from offer letters processed through our EOR platform, supplemented by 400+ salary surveys collected directly from India-based employees at international companies. City benchmarks are based on the employee's primary work location. Figures include base salary and variable pay; ESOP is excluded.
Software Engineering — Bangalore (Medians, 2025)
| Level | 25th %ile | Median | 75th %ile | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer (2–4 yrs) | ₹18L | ₹23L | ₹30L | +8% |
| Senior Software Engineer (4–7 yrs) | ₹28L | ₹38L | ₹50L | +11% |
| Staff Engineer (7–10 yrs) | ₹45L | ₹65L | ₹85L | +14% |
| Principal Engineer (10+ yrs) | ₹70L | ₹95L | ₹130L | +17% |
| Engineering Manager | ₹55L | ₹75L | ₹100L | +12% |
City Comparison — Senior Software Engineer
Bangalore commands the highest salaries for most tech roles, followed closely by Hyderabad. Pune runs 10–15% below Bangalore. Delhi-NCR is competitive for fintech and product roles but trails for deep-tech.
| City | Median (Senior SWE) | Relative to Bangalore |
|---|---|---|
| Bangalore | ₹38L | Baseline |
| Hyderabad | ₹35L | −8% |
| Pune | ₹32L | −16% |
| Delhi-NCR | ₹33L | −13% |
| Chennai | ₹30L | −21% |
Hiring Trends: What's Changed in 2025
AI/ML premium has widened. Engineers with 3+ years of LLM fine-tuning, RAG pipelines, or ML infrastructure experience command a 35–50% premium over equivalently levelled generalist engineers. Demand is outpacing supply sharply at the senior level.
Offer acceptance rates have fallen. The average offer acceptance rate in our data fell from 78% in 2024 to 68% in 2025. Candidates are holding more competing offers and taking longer to decide. Average time-to-accept has grown from 4 days to 9 days.
Return-to-office backlash. Offers requiring 5-day office attendance see a 40% lower acceptance rate than offers with hybrid or remote flexibility for senior engineers. Full remote commands a 5–8% salary premium over hybrid for the same role.
The companies winning senior India engineering offers in 2025 are competing on the full package: role scope, ESOP transparency, benefits, and work model — not just base salary. The era of closing India hires on compensation alone is over.
2025 India tech talent at a glance
- Senior SWE median: ₹38L in Bangalore; ₹35L in Hyderabad; ₹32L in Pune
- AI/ML engineers: 35–50% premium over generalist SWEs at equivalent levels
- Offer acceptance rates: fell from 78% to 68% year-over-year
- Full-remote role offers see 5–8% higher compensation expectation vs. hybrid
- Average time-to-accept an offer: 9 days in 2025 (up from 4 days in 2024)