The average starting salary for engineering graduates in India has increased from Rs 25K to Rs 33K in five years. This is a 30% increase according to the National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) reports that looked at data from 2016-2017 to 2020-2021.
An Indian Express analysis of the report noted that the average salary of an engineer in India is getting closer to Rs 4 lakh per year.
On the other hand, the report suggests that the employability of engineering graduates in the country remains a major concern because only 3.41 lakh new graduates managed to secure campus placements in the last academic year. In the year before that, 3.96 lakh students secured jobs, says the data from higher education controller All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
Companies are blaming the quality of engineering education in the country as a reason for unemployment. First-year engineering students often score 37-40% in mathematics as freshmen and this pattern is common in all branches including civil engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer science engineering.
However, this doesn't seem to be the case for IIT students. The gap between the entry-level salary offered to graduates from IITs and other engineering institutions remains. The starting salary of an IIT graduate has seen a 60% increase in the same five-year period. They were offered Rs 9.5 lakh in 2016-2017 and Rs 15 lakh in 2020-2021.