How do salaries in India's tech market compare to Europe?

Europe's tech market is highly competitive in 2026 – particularly for emerging skills like data engineering, cybersecurity, and AI engineering. 

The pool of available candidates is stretched, time-to-hire is increasing, and so are the compensation packages needed to secure the best people.

India offers a compelling alternative. 

Decades of investment in STEM education and emerging tech skills have produced a deep well of exactly this kind of talent, with cities like Bangalore now established tech hubs. Which means access to great candidates, faster hiring, and typically lower employment costs – it's easy to see why so many European companies have built teams there.

But making confident compensation decisions for India isn't always straightforward.

Reliable benchmarks are limited, and what exists doesn't always reflect the reality of the tech talent market. 

If you're trying to ensure pay is fair and competitive for your India employees (and consistent with how you pay across the rest of your team) you need an accurate picture of what the differential actually is between salaries in India and in Europe.

Here’s what our data shows.

How much higher are tech salaries in Europe than in India?

Across Europe and the UK we see low differentials when comparing salaries to India overall, with an average differential of 0.38x. The differential here represents how much cheaper talent is in India compared to Europe as the base market – a differential of 0.38x represents 62% lower salaries in India than in Europe. 

That's a significant gap, but the overall figure only tells part of the story.

The gap between European and Indian tech salaries shifts considerably depending on which European country you're using as your baseline.

Danish tech salaries show the largest differential at 0.30x, with tech roles in India paid 70% less than in Denmark. Ireland (0.33x), Luxembourg (0.31x), and the UK (0.36x) all follow closely. 

At the other end are Greece (0.52x), Croatia (0.52x), and Hungary (0.51x) – still a significant gap, but much closer to Indian market rates than their Western European counterparts.

Which Indian cities have the highest average salaries for tech employees?

Because Ravio's dataset is made up predominantly of European tech companies, the distribution of Indian employees tells us something useful in itself – it shows where European companies are actually hiring in India.

Bangalore accounts for 32% of Ravio's Indian dataset, followed by Pune (13%), Mumbai (12%), Kochi (12%), and Noida (9%) – so it’s these cities that European tech companies are most commonly hiring in.

And typical salaries also vary considerably across these cities. 

Using Bangalore as the base, we can see that it sits in the middle – a popular location for hiring, but not the most expensive place for employee costs. 

Telangana (1.40x), Gurugram (1.21x), and New Delhi (1.31x) all carry a significant premium, while Chennai (0.90x), Thiruvananthapuram (0.82x), and Noida (0.81x) sit notably lower.

How do salaries in India's tech market compare by job function?

The differential between India’s tech salaries and Europe’s also varies by function – it isn't uniform across the business.

Administration shows the largest gap, with Indian salaries at 0.30x their European equivalent – meaning Administrative staff in India earns around 70% less than their European counterparts. 

Operations (0.32x) and IT (0.34x) follow closely behind.

At the other end, Marketing shows the smallest differential at 0.47x – Indian marketing salaries are around 53% lower than in Europe.

How do salaries in India's tech market compare by career track?

When we break the differential between salaries in India and Europe down by career track, a clear pattern emerges: the gap compresses as you move up the seniority ladder.

Executive roles sit at just 0.75x – meaning senior talent in India earns around 25% less than their European counterparts, compared to a 0.29x differential for the Support track. 

It appears that senior talent commands closer-to-global rates regardless of location.

Breaking it down by career track and function shows that the differential varies considerably by function at every level – so a single location multiplier per track isn't enough to benchmark accurately.

The most striking example is Management-level Data roles, where Indian salaries sit at just 0.23x (or 77% less) their European equivalent.

At the other end, Executive Operations comes close to parity at 0.89x, with Engineering not far behind at 0.71x – reflecting the global market for senior technical leadership much more closely.

If you're building location pay policies or benchmarking specific roles in India, you need granular benchmarks at the right function and level to get an accurate picture of fair and competitive compensation.

So what does this mean for companies hiring and compensating employees in India?

The picture that emerges is that there's no single "India differential" – it varies significantly depending on which markets, functions, and levels are relevant to your business.

That nuance matters whether you're thinking about cost planning, building location pay policies, or ensuring fairness across a global team. 

A blanket assumption about what Indian tech salaries look like relative to Europe is likely to be wrong for at least some part of your workforce.

Getting this right starts with having accurate, tech-specific benchmarks for salaries in India's market – and understanding how those benchmarks shift depending on where else in the world your employees are based.