MEI sector salaries to rise 9.4% in FY27, up from 7.9%: TeamLease
Synopsis
India's manufacturing and engineering sector is handing out its biggest pay hikes in years — 9.4% average increments in FY27, up nearly 1.5 percentage points from FY26. Project Engineers top the table at 10.7%, and Gurgaon leads all cities at 10.9%. The data signals that India's industrial expansion is creating a genuine talent premium for execution-focused roles, not just digital ones.
Key Takeaways
India's MEI sector is projected to see average salary increments of 9.4% in FY27 , up from 7.9% in FY26, per TeamLease Services .
Project Engineers lead with projected increments of 10.7% , followed by EHS Officers and Site Engineers at 10.1% each.
Engineering functions top sectoral salary growth at 9.9% , ahead of IT ( 9.8% ) and Finance ( 9.5% ).
Gurgaon ( 10.9% ) and Coimbatore ( 10.8% ) are the highest-paying cities for MEI roles in FY27.
Growth is driven by recovery in project activity, semiconductor expansion, and Industry 4.0 capability rollouts.
India's Manufacturing, Engineering and Infrastructure (MEI) sector is projected to record average salary increments of 9.4 per cent in FY27, a sharp improvement over the 7.9 per cent seen in the previous year, according to a report released by TeamLease Services on 28 July 2025. The uptick is attributed to a rebound in project activity, accelerating semiconductor expansion, and the broader rollout of Industry 4.0 capabilities across industrial operations.
Roles Leading Salary Growth
Project Engineers are set to receive the highest increments at 10.7 per cent, making them the top earners in the sector's salary growth table. EHS Officers and Site Engineers follow closely at 10.1 per cent each, while Mechanical Design Engineers are projected to see increments of 9.9 per cent. The report notes that engineering roles are emerging as the strongest salary growth engines within the MEI sector.
Functions Driving the Pay Premium
At a functional level, engineering leads salary growth across the sector at 9.9 per cent, closely trailed by IT at 9.8 per cent and Finance at 9.5 per cent. According to the report, this pattern reflects the evolving nature of industrial operations — where technical execution is increasingly underpinned by digital systems, automation, and tighter cost discipline. The convergence of engineering and technology functions is reshaping compensation benchmarks across MEI organisations.
Regional Hotspots
Geographically, Gurgaon and Coimbatore topped the salary growth rankings at 10.9 per cent and 10.8 per cent respectively, reflecting their roles as key industrial and engineering hubs. Hyderabad and Pune both recorded increments of 10.1 per cent, while Vadodara came in at 9.9 per cent. The report attributed this geographic concentration to the continued importance of established industrial clusters and manufacturing ecosystems.
'The concentration of salary growth across these cities reflects the continued importance of industrial clusters, manufacturing ecosystems and engineering-led expansion,' the TeamLease report stated.
What Industry Leaders Are Saying
Balasubramanian A, Senior Vice President at TeamLease Services, said the premium is increasingly shifting towards professionals who can translate capital investments into operational outcomes — whether on the factory floor, at project sites, or through digitally enabled engineering systems.
'As industrial expansion deepens, organisations that invest in specialised engineering and execution capabilities will be better positioned to build long-term competitiveness,' he added.
Broader Outlook
The findings come amid India's accelerating push into semiconductor manufacturing and large-scale infrastructure development, both of which are generating sustained demand for specialised engineering talent. Notably, this is the second consecutive year in which MEI salary growth has outpaced the broader private-sector average, signalling a structural shift in how organisations value execution-focused roles. As projects grow in complexity and scale, the demand for professionals combining technical depth with delivery discipline is expected to remain elevated through FY28.
Point of View
Not just digital fluency, is now the scarce input. What mainstream coverage may miss is the regional story — Coimbatore at 10.8% is a quiet indicator that South India's engineering manufacturing belt is absorbing capacity as fast as the NCR corridor. If semiconductor and infrastructure project pipelines hold, FY28 could push these numbers higher still, raising questions about whether India's engineering colleges are producing enough specialised talent to keep wage inflation from becoming a project-execution bottleneck.
NationPress
28 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the projected salary increment for India's MEI sector in FY27?
India's Manufacturing, Engineering and Infrastructure sector is projected to see average salary increments of 9.4% in FY27, up from 7.9% in the previous year, according to a TeamLease Services report released on 28 July 2025. The increase is driven by a recovery in project activity, semiconductor expansion, and Industry 4.0 rollouts.
Which roles are seeing the highest salary hikes in the MEI sector?
Project Engineers are projected to receive the highest increments at 10.7%, followed by EHS Officers and Site Engineers at 10.1% each, and Mechanical Design Engineers at 9.9%. Engineering functions overall lead sectoral salary growth at 9.9%.
Which cities offer the highest MEI salary growth in FY27?
Gurgaon tops the list at 10.9%, followed by Coimbatore at 10.8%, Hyderabad and Pune at 10.1% each, and Vadodara at 9.9%. The TeamLease report attributes this to the concentration of industrial clusters and manufacturing ecosystems in these cities.
Why is MEI sector salary growth accelerating in FY27?
The acceleration is linked to three main factors: a rebound in project activity, expanding semiconductor manufacturing investments, and the rollout of Industry 4.0 capabilities. These trends are increasing demand for specialised engineering and execution talent across the sector.
How does MEI salary growth compare to IT and Finance functions within the sector?
Within the MEI sector, engineering functions lead at 9.9%, followed closely by IT at 9.8% and Finance at 9.5%. This reflects the growing integration of digital systems and automation into industrial operations, raising compensation benchmarks across multiple functions.
