There are some engineering branches that attract highest pay. In this article, we have compiled a list of top five highest paying engineering jobs in India.
One of the many reasons behind engineering being the top career choice in India is the excellent job opportunities and handsome pay packages offered to engineers. However, students often face confusion when it comes to picking the best engineering branch or specialization that attracts the highest pay. Although career experts and counsellors advise students to opt for engineering domain on the basis of their personal interest and aptitude, high pay package still remains the final denominator, when it comes to this all-important decision. The choice is further made very difficult by the advent of several new and upcoming engineering domains that have proven to be excellent paymasters for engineers.
For students, who are still confused about the engineering major that attracts highest pay packages, we have compiled a list of top five highest paying engineering jobs in India. The list is prepared keeping in mind different factors like job opportunities on offer, stability and finally the remuneration on offer to the candidates.
Computer Science/IT Engineers
In the last decade, computer technology and IT has emerged as the mainstay of the Indian economy, Therefore, the emergence of computer science engineers as the top paid executives in leading brands of India doesn’t strike as a surprising fact. Despite being a relatively new entrant in the engineering domain, computer technology has penetrated almost every industrial sector in the country offering excellent job opportunities that are not only excellent in terms of pay and perks but also in terms stability and long term career progression. To further the cause of computer engineers, the field is still in its evolutionary mode and, therefore, offers excellent opportunities not only in terms of R&D but also when it comes to production, quality assessment, testing and lifetime service support.
Taking about the financial remuneration offered; a fresh computer engineer from average institute can expect pay package in the range of Rs. 2.4 Lakh PA to Rs. 8.5 Lakh PA. However, top technology firms like Google, Twitter and Facebook have also been known to offer packages of Rs 1 crore PA to exceptional engineers from premier institutes like IITs. Apart from these, other great paymasters for CS Engineers include HSBC, Citi Bank, Meryl & Lynch, Poor & Standard, Moodys and Samsung; which offer pay package in the range of Rs. 10-30 Lakh PA to engineering graduates.
How to Start a career in Computer Engineering
Mechanical Engineers
Mechanical Engineering is considered to be more traditional engineering domain with its roots firmly placed in heavy manufacturing industries like automobiles, mining, steel, metal and forging. Despite being one of the oldest engineering domains, Mechanical engineers still find diverse range of job opportunities in a variety of industrial sectors ranging, including a few new ones dealing with computer technology and robotics. In the Indian context, mechanical engineers are known to find great employment offers in the public sector over the private ones. This trend is changing rapidly, but government agencies still remain one of the most preferred employers for mechanical engineers.
Public sector heavy industries like Indian Railways, Defence Forces, national highway authority, metro rail corporations, shipyards, ports and others are known to hire qualified and trained mechanical engineers in India. In terms of remuneration, a fresh mechanical engineering graduate should expect Rs 1.8 to 5 Lakh PA package for initial placements, which will rise gradually with the expansion of skillset and experience. Mechanical engineering students from premium institutes like IITs and NITs are offered handsome packages ranging around 7 to 10 Lakhs per annum, owing to their academic excellence and skill set.
Mechanical Engineering – Career Prospects
Civil Engineers
Considered to be the epitome of engineering in the 1990s, Civil Engineering has come a long way facing a tumulous journey. Concerned with infrastructural development in terms of residential, commercial property along with spearheading national level infrastructural projects; civil engineering surely looks as a field with potential to offer high paying jobs. Especially in the current scenario, when real estate market is booming in personal property space and the recent government push for development of futuristic infrastructure; civil engineering surely is an engineering branch that one should consider among their top choices. Civil engineers are known to find rewarding job prospects in both public and private sector units. In the public sector, civil engineers lead the expansive development of public infrastructure projects like roads, bridges, public buildings, irrigation and other similar projects. In the private sector, the job offered falls in a diverse range of responsibilities like designing, development, construction, supervision, monitoring, quality assessment and others for residential and private property. According to recent reports, there has been a dearth of civil engineers in development countries and, therefore, civil engineering is also an excellent choice for students, who want to build their careers abroad.
In terms of salary offered, freshers can expect remuneration package in the range of Rs 3 to 5 Lakhs PA. Experienced civil engineers, who possess 3-4 year of significant work experience of planning and executing infrastructural projects can expect a package of Rs 70,000 to 90,000 per month.
How to Start a Career in Civil Engineering
Electrical/Electronics & Communication Engineers
Electrical Engineering is another evergreen branch of engineering, which is always in the limelight as far as job markets are concerned. Electrical Engineers are traditionally hired by public sector power companies like NTPC. The job profile is primarily concerned with the development of electricity production, development of power plants, laying and expansion of power distribution network, etc. Apart from this, electrical engineers also play a vital role in PSUs, defence forces, manufacturing sector and instrumentation industries. One of the more recent offshoots of electrical engineering domain has been Electronics & Communication Engineering. The Electrical Communication Engineers are hired by wireless companies and telcos like Airtel, Idea for setting up, maintenance and supervisory roles. Apart from this, electrical engineers are also employed in consumer electronics and computer electronics industry.
Expected salary range for fresh Electrical Engineers is Rs 1.8 Lakh PA to Rs. 4.5 Lakh PA. Experienced electrical engineers can expect higher pay depending upon their performance, skill set and experience.
Petroleum Engineers
Despite being considered a rare and niche field of engineering in India, there is no dearth of great employment opportunities for Petroleum engineers. While job opportunities available to Petroleum engineers are not that common to come by, but the ones being offered attract excellent pay package compared to other branches. The rising scarcity of petroleum products coupled with expansion in search operations for new petroleum sources has brought the field again in the limelight. This has sparked new interest among the students wanting to pursue a career in this field as petroleum engineers. Today, Petroleum Engineers are one of the highest paid executives in job markets across the world. The key reason behind this is the unavailability of trained and qualified petroleum engineers, who can handle operations of an industry that has its impact on business, economy, geology, chemistry and several other fields.
In terms of employment opportunities, petroleum engineers fund jobs in public sector units like ONGC, HPCL, OVL and others. In addition to this, several private firms are not getting involved in exploration, drilling activities, offshore and onshore operations and research in petroleum allied fields. This has opened up new employment avenues for petroleum engineers. Apart from domestic market, petroleum engineers are also in great demand in international market, especially in developed countries. Salary package being offered to Petroleum engineers range from Rs 3 to 7 Lakh PA for freshers. If you plan to move to international market especially in developed countries, a petroleum engineer can draw anywhere between $50,000 to $80,000 annual salary.
