Skip to content
worldsalaries .com

Average Roughneck Salary in India for 2026

A roughneck in India earns about 357,300 INR a year. That's 7% below the national average of 384,200 INR.

Pay ranges widely from country to country and from role to role. The lowest reported salaries in India sit around 189,300 INR a year, while the very top stretches to 539,700 INR. Everything on this page is in Indian rupee (INR, symbol ₹), which lets you compare numbers like-for-like without worrying about exchange rates.

The numbers here are pulled together from official government wage data, large independent salary surveys, and aggregated worker-reported pay. Most reported salaries include the benefits that are common in India, such as housing or transport allowances, which is worth keeping in mind if you're comparing against a country where those are usually paid on top.

How much does a roughneck make in India?

Average salary
357,300 INR
29,775 INR per month
Lowest reported
189,300 INR
15,775 INR per month
Highest reported
539,700 INR
44,975 INR per month

A typical roughneck working in India brings home around 29,775 INR a month before tax. Entry-level pay starts near 189,300 INR, and the top of the ladder reaches roughly 539,700 INR for the most experienced and specialised people in the role.

The wide gap between low end and top end reflects how much pay can vary inside the same job title. A junior roughneck working at a small local employer earns very different money from a senior at a multinational. Skills, employer, city and years in the seat all push the number around.

How roughneck pay ranges in India

A good way to think about salary in India is to look at the distribution rather than the headline average. Half of all roughnecks in India earn less than 335,100 INR a year, and the other half earn more. That middle number is the median, and it is usually more useful than the average for answering "is my pay normal here".

Looking at the quartiles fills in the picture. A quarter of earners take home less than 233,900 INR (the 25th percentile), and a quarter clear 412,000 INR (the 75th percentile). The middle 50% of roughnecks sit somewhere inside that band, which is where the typical reader of this page probably lives.

The very lowest reported salaries sit around 189,300 INR. The highest stretch to 539,700 INR, though only a small fraction of earners ever reach that level. If you are deciding whether your own offer or current pay is reasonable, work out which of those four bands you would fall into and use that as your reference point.

189,300
Low
335,100
Median
539,700
High
233,900
25th
412,000
75th
The middle 50% sit between the 25th and 75th percentile Tails are the lowest and highest reported All figures in INR

Roughneck pay by experience in India

Years of experience is the single biggest lever on pay for a roughneck in India, ahead of education and almost any other single factor. The longer you have been in the role, the more your employer can trust you to handle complexity, mentor others and act independently, all of which command higher pay. The chart below shows how the typical roughneck salary changes as you move through the career ladder.

  • 0-2 Years
    216,800 INR
  • 2-5 Years
    +23% from previous
    266,000 INR
  • 5-10 Years
    +42% from previous
    378,300 INR
  • 10-15 Years
    +17% from previous
    442,200 INR
  • 15-20 Years
    +10% from previous
    485,300 INR
  • 20+ Years
    +6% from previous
    514,300 INR

The single largest jump on the ladder is from 2 - 5 Years to 5 - 10 Years, where pay rises by about 42%. That is the point at which a roughneck typically goes from "competent in the role" to "the person other people in the team learn from", and the market pays well for that step.

Roughneck pay by education in India

Education sits alongside experience as one of the biggest factors driving roughneck pay in India. Higher qualifications consistently pull higher salaries, but the size of the gap tends to be smallest at junior levels and widens as people move up. Two people in the same role with the same years of experience but different degrees can end up earning very different money once they reach mid-career.

Below is the average roughneck salary in India broken down by the highest level of education a worker has completed.

  • High School
    266,000 INR
  • Certificate or Diploma
    +40% from previous
    371,100 INR
  • Bachelor's Degree
    +42% from previous
    525,700 INR

Roughneck gender pay gap in India

The gender pay gap is a stubborn feature of almost every labour market, and India is no exception. Male roughnecks in India earn an average of 375,200 INR a year, while female roughnecks earn around 325,900 INR. That works out to a 15% gap in favour of men, even when comparing people doing the same work.

A pay gap of this size has a real long-term cost. Over a typical thirty-year career it can add up to several years of pay, and it compounds through pensions, retirement contributions and bonus-linked stock. Some of the gap is explained by women being more likely to work part-time, take career breaks, or be steered toward lower-paying specialisations. Some of it is straightforward unequal pay for the same job, which is harder to defend.

Roughneck gender pay gap

13%

Men earn this much more than women on average in India.

Men 375,200 INR
Women 325,900 INR

Pay raises for a roughneck in India

Most countries hand out at least some kind of pay raise every year, typically when an employee's contract is reviewed or as a cost-of-living adjustment to keep wages roughly in step with inflation. The rhythm and size of those raises varies hugely between industries.

A typical worker doing this role in India sees a raise of about 13% every 15 months, which works out to roughly 10% on an annual basis. That figure is the typical underlying rate; in years where inflation runs high you can usually expect a bit more, and in flat-economy years a bit less.

Across all jobs in India, the national average raise is around 9% every 16 months.

By industry

Industries with the highest pay raises in India:

  • Banking
    1%
  • Energy
    2%
  • Information Technology
  • Healthcare
  • Travel
  • Construction
  • Education

By experience level

Experienced workers tend to see larger raises. Retaining a senior is cheaper than replacing them, so employers fight harder for them.

  • Junior Level
    3% - 5%
  • Mid-Career
  • Senior Level
  • Top Management

Roughneck bonus rates in India

Bonuses are the other half of total compensation, and they vary a lot between jobs and industries. Some roles are paid almost entirely in base salary; others lean heavily on bonus structures tied to revenue, project completion or company performance. Whether a job pays a bonus, how big it is, and how often it lands all factor into whether the headline salary is actually a good offer.

27%

27% of roughnecks in India reported a bonus of some kind in the past twelve months. That makes a roughneck a low-bonus role overall, which is useful context when you're weighing up a job offer where the base is below market.

Among those who did receive a bonus, the size of the payment varied substantially. Reported bonuses ranged from 1% to 3% of base salary. The remaining 73% of roughnecks reported no bonus at all over the same period.

Which careers pay bonuses in India

Revenue-facing roles tend to pay the biggest bonuses. Operational and support roles tend toward smaller, more predictable ones.

  • Finance
  • Architecture
  • Sales
  • Business Development
  • Marketing / Advertising
  • Information Technology
  • Healthcare
  • Insurance
  • Customer Service
  • Human Resources
  • Construction
  • Transport
  • Hospitality

Roughneck: public vs private sector pay

Public-sector pay in India is about 6% more than private-sector pay for similar work. The private sector typically offers stronger upside and bigger bonuses; the public sector typically offers better benefits and stability.

Public vs private pay gap

5%

Public-sector workers earn this much more than private-sector workers in India on average.

Public sector 392,300 INR
Private sector 371,100 INR

Roughneck salary by city and region in India

Roughneck pay is not even across India. The chart below shows the highest-paying cities and regions in the dataset, followed by the full location table.

  • Madhya Pradesh
  • Tamil Nadu
  • West Bengal
  • Uttar Pradesh
  • Maharashtra
  • Bangalore
  • Bihar
  • Andhra Pradesh
  • Karnataka
  • Kolkata
LocationTypeAverageMedianRange
Madhya PradeshRegion437,900 INR420,100 INR227,600-671,000 INR
Tamil NaduRegion431,100 INR447,300 INR207,800-674,100 INR
West BengalRegion430,500 INR442,200 INR209,500-675,100 INR
Uttar PradeshRegion424,300 INR415,900 INR215,100-652,200 INR
MaharashtraRegion424,300 INR424,300 INR209,500-658,300 INR
BangaloreCity420,100 INR394,500 INR221,500-641,900 INR
BiharRegion417,100 INR450,300 INR192,600-664,500 INR
Andhra PradeshRegion415,900 INR398,300 INR215,100-637,500 INR
KarnatakaRegion414,000 INR420,100 INR204,700-643,800 INR
KolkataCity407,300 INR390,000 INR210,500-623,700 INR
OrissaRegion403,100 INR412,000 INR197,600-629,800 INR
Delhi (city)City398,300 INR398,300 INR197,600-618,800 INR
GujaratRegion398,300 INR398,300 INR197,600-618,800 INR
AssamRegion394,500 INR412,000 INR190,500-619,800 INR
RajasthanRegion394,500 INR378,800 INR204,000-605,700 INR
MumbaiCity392,300 INR397,900 INR192,600-612,500 INR
LucknowCity386,400 INR372,600 INR201,100-592,600 INR
HaryanaRegion384,200 INR396,300 INR183,700-598,600 INR
NagpurCity384,200 INR351,900 INR207,800-576,500 INR
HyderabadCity384,200 INR351,200 INR207,800-578,500 INR
PunjabRegion382,600 INR353,600 INR207,700-580,600 INR
SuratCity382,600 INR353,600 INR207,700-580,600 INR
ChennaiCity381,800 INR381,800 INR190,500-589,400 INR
JharkhandRegion381,800 INR371,100 INR191,600-585,900 INR
PuneCity381,800 INR403,100 INR180,300-600,000 INR
AhmadabadCity378,300 INR399,900 INR175,900-595,300 INR
KeralaRegion371,100 INR394,300 INR174,000-587,800 INR
Jammu & KashmirRegion369,300 INR348,300 INR195,200-562,600 INR
UttaranchalRegion369,300 INR349,300 INR195,200-562,600 INR
JaipurCity369,300 INR378,800 INR183,600-581,300 INR
KanpurCity367,900 INR340,000 INR197,600-553,400 INR
IndoreCity367,900 INR396,300 INR169,000-583,000 INR
Delhi (region)Region366,200 INR335,800 INR197,600-552,400 INR
Pimpri-ChinchwadCity365,400 INR392,300 INR168,100-576,500 INR
ChhatisgarhRegion365,400 INR357,300 INR187,500-559,000 INR
ManipurRegion362,200 INR376,800 INR172,400-565,100 INR
CoimbatoreCity351,200 INR366,200 INR169,000-553,800 INR
GoaRegion345,700 INR332,100 INR180,500-533,100 INR
VisakhapatnamCity345,700 INR325,900 INR183,700-528,500 INR
TripuraRegion345,700 INR375,200 INR159,400-552,400 INR
Himachal PradeshRegion345,700 INR376,800 INR159,400-552,400 INR
VadodaraCity345,700 INR332,100 INR180,500-533,100 INR
BhopalCity345,100 INR322,600 INR183,600-520,900 INR
MeghalayaRegion340,000 INR363,000 INR157,600-535,900 INR
PatnaCity335,800 INR313,700 INR175,900-510,300 INR
LudhianaCity335,800 INR313,700 INR175,900-510,200 INR
MizoramRegion335,100 INR315,700 INR175,900-510,000 INR
NagalandRegion330,900 INR325,800 INR169,000-510,300 INR
Arunachal PradeshRegion330,900 INR330,900 INR164,200-513,300 INR
GhaziabadCity330,900 INR325,800 INR169,000-510,300 INR
ChandigarhRegion327,800 INR308,900 INR172,200-499,300 INR
agraCity325,800 INR325,800 INR161,300-502,200 INR
SikkimRegion315,900 INR315,900 INR159,100-492,400 INR
Dadra & Nagar HaveliRegion315,900 INR322,600 INR154,700-492,700 INR
PondicherryRegion315,900 INR335,800 INR150,000-500,100 INR
MaduraiCity311,700 INR335,800 INR143,200-496,100 INR
Andaman & Nicobar IslandsRegion309,800 INR282,300 INR168,100-464,900 INR
LakshadweepRegion301,700 INR279,400 INR163,800-459,700 INR
Daman & DiuRegion292,000 INR308,300 INR137,400-462,300 INR

Roughneck in India: FAQs

  • How much does a roughneck make per month in India?

    A roughneck in India earns about 29,775 INR a month before tax, based on an annual average of 357,300 INR.

  • What's the salary range for a roughneck in India?

    Entry-level roughnecks in India start near 189,300 INR. Top-end pay reaches around 539,700 INR. The middle 50% of earners sit between 233,900 and 412,000 INR.

  • Is the median roughneck salary in India higher or lower than the average?

    The median is 335,100 INR, lower than the average of 357,300 INR. Half of roughnecks in India earn below the median, half earn above it.

  • What's the gender pay gap for roughnecks in India?

    Men working as a roughneck in India earn around 15% more than women on average (375,200 vs 325,900 INR a year).

  • Do roughnecks in India get bonuses?

    About 27% of roughnecks in India reported a bonus in the past 12 months. Reported bonuses ranged from 1% to 3% of base salary.

  • Do roughnecks earn more in the public or private sector in India?

    In India, the public sector pays a roughneck about 6% more on average. Public-sector pay tends to be steadier; private-sector pay tends to offer bigger upside.

  • How often do roughnecks in India get a pay raise?

    A roughneck in India sees a raise of around 13% every 15 months, equivalent to roughly 10% a year.