More than 9% salary increase in Bhopal, Jaipur, Nagpur:Employees in Ahmedabad Visakhapatnam to get higher increment than Delhi Mumbai

Cities that were considered merely ‘volume markets’ until ten years ago are now leaving Delhi and Mumbai behind in the race for salary increments. According to TeamLease’s ‘Jobs and Salaries Primer’ report, salary growth in Ahmedabad and Visakhapatnam is estimated to be 9.5% in the financial year 2026-27 starting from April 1. In comparison, this figure for Delhi and Mumbai is 9.3-9.3%. The meaning is clear – these two medium-sized cities have overtaken the country’s two major ‘business centers’. Nagpur and Jaipur are also matching Delhi with 9.3% salary growth. This change has not come suddenly. There are solid structural reasons behind it. These include industrial corridors, electronics assembly, electric vehicle production, and government policies regarding ‘rare earth minerals’ and renewable energy. Coimbatore, Nagpur, and Visakhapatnam have now fully emerged as industrial hubs. Teamlease’s Senior Vice President Balasubramanian says, ‘Now rural and non-metro markets don’t just want volume (sales), they want quality. Entry-level cars are back, hatchbacks are selling and electric two-wheelers are selling rapidly in non-metro cities. Companies just need the right talent there.’ By 2030, non-metro cities could contribute more than 50% to the country’s total consumption. This estimate is also changing ‘Corporate India’s’ strategy. Talking about sectors, salary growth is now being led not by IT or banking sector, but by EV and EV infrastructure. These are estimated to have a 10.2% increment. Fintech is behind at 10% and healthcare-pharma at 9.7%. In manufacturing and engineering sectors, the growth for 2025-26 was 9.4%. The shadow of war is also visible in West Asia. Input costs are rising and the rupee is under pressure. Balasubramanian says that most increments were decided before March itself, so the full impact of the war has not been seen yet. Even if this conflict continues for six more months, there will be growth, but not as much as was estimated earlier. More than 9% salary increase in Tier 2 cities like Bhopal, Jaipur, Nagpur According to a survey based on 1,268 companies across 23 sectors and 20 cities, Chennai, Pune and Hyderabad are leading among metros with 9.7-9.6% salary increase. Ahmedabad and Visakhapatnam are above Delhi-Mumbai (9.3%) with 9.5% growth. Nagpur and Jaipur are matching Delhi with 9.3%. Vadodara-Gurugram are in the middle range with 9.2%, Coimbatore with 9.1%, and Bhopal with 9%. Kochi, Lucknow, Indore, Chandigarh and Surat are getting salary increases between 8.4-8.8%.