February 2026 – Mumbai – IT, Tech and AI Salary & Contractor Rates
Mumbai is India’s financial capital, making it a “high-cost” hub within a “low-cost” country. While the figures below (in GBP for ease of comparison) look significantly lower than London or NYC, these professionals represent the top tier of the Indian talent pool, often working for global investment banks or high-growth fintechs.
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The AI Premium: In Mumbai, an AI Engineer at the median earns £28,500. While this looks small compared to London, it is nearly 3x the salary of a standard Senior Developer in the same region. This is the “AI Premium” in its most aggressive form.
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MNC vs Local: There is a massive “two-tier” market. Global firms (JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Google) in the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) will pay the Yearly High or more. Local Indian firms typically sit at the Yearly Low.
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The “Export” Talent: Many contractors in Mumbai are now charging in USD or GBP for remote work. If you find a developer asking for £175-£200/day, they are likely “Top 1%” talent who would otherwise be a Senior Lead at a major bank.
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Operational Scale: Mumbai is the global engine room for 1st/2nd Line Support. With a median salary of £4,000–£6,500, it remains the most cost-effective place for UK firms to build out 24/7 “Follow the Sun” support models.
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CategoryJob TitleYearly Low (MUM)Yearly Median (MUM)Yearly High (Elite)Contractor Day Rate (MUM)LeadershipChief Transformation Officer (CTRO)£28,500£44,700£73,000+£450Chief Technology Officer (CTO)£24,400£36,500£65,000£400Chief Information Officer (CIO)£22,000£32,000£55,000£350Chief Info Security Officer (CISO)£18,000£28,500£48,000£300IT Director£14,500£22,000£38,000£250Head of Data / AI£20,000£32,500£50,000£350Head of IT£11,500£18,000£28,000£200Operations3rd Line Support (SysAdmin)£6,500£9,500£16,000£1002nd Line Support£4,000£6,500£10,000£751st Line Support£2,500£4,000£6,500£50IT Support Manager£9,500£14,500£22,000£150ArchitectureEnterprise Architect£16,000£24,500£38,000£300Solution Architect£14,500£22,000£35,000£250Cloud Architect (AWS/Azure)£17,000£26,000£45,000£300Security Architect£18,500£28,000£48,000£350Data Architect£15,000£23,500£36,000£250EngineeringAI / Machine Learning Engineer£16,500£28,500£48,000£300DevOps / SRE Engineer£12,000£20,000£35,000£225Cyber Security Engineer£10,500£18,000£32,000£200Software Developer (Senior)£13,000£22,000£40,000£175Data Engineer£11,000£19,000£30,000£180Network Engineer£7,500£12,000£19,000£125Data & PMData Scientist (Senior)£14,500£25,000£45,000£275Data Analyst£6,500£10,500£18,000£125IT Project Manager£12,500£20,000£32,000£200Business Analyst (Technical)£9,000£15,000£24,000£150
If your company is thinking of hiring, do it now. As demand rises, so too with the rates of pay and the difficulty levels of attracting and securing the right talent.
If, however, your company is slowing down – beware! If your IT staff start to feel insecure, talent competitors and recruiters will find it very easy to persuade your staff to interview elsewhere. Despite the stress and negativity that may exist, take the time to focus on reassuring your team and, where appropriate, reward their loyalty. It’s a false economy to avoid salary increases for your best people. Doing so risks leave yourself vulnerable to losing key staff and the larger costs in both time and money of replacing them.
Should you be considering recruitment or simply would like some advice on anything recruitment related, please do not hesitate to give us a call and see how we can really help you to Recruit Someone Worth Recruiting.