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Entrepreneur explains Bengaluru salary gap, says ‘ ₹70 LPA feels common, but it’s not reality’
According to the entrepreneur, nearly 80% of engineers in Bengaluru earn below ₹40 LPA, and ₹70 LPA falls within the top 5% of roles.
An entrepreneur has shared a detailed breakdown of tech salaries in Bengaluru to challenge the popular notion that ₹70 LPA packages are “common” in the city’s IT ecosystem. Responding to an X user who said “70 LPA is so common in Bangalore these days,” Vineeth K argued that the perception is skewed by visibility rather than ground reality.
“ ₹70 LPA in Bangalore often feels common, but that perception is driven more by visibility than reality,” the entrepreneur wrote. Breaking down the ecosystem, Vineeth said a majority of engineers work in service companies such as TCS, Infosys and Wipro, where salaries typically range between ₹3 - 20 LPA. “ ₹70 LPA is almost non-existent except for 10+ year old roles,” he noted.
Vineeth further said that another 20-25% of engineers are employed in mid-tier product firms and global capability centres (GCCs) like Oracle, Dell, IBM and Goldman Sachs. In this segment, salaries typically fall between ₹15-45 LPA, with ₹70 LPA packages limited to the top 5-10%, he explained.
He added that well-funded startups and unicorns, including Swiggy, Flipkart, Razorpay and CRED, make up about 5-10% of the market, where salaries range from ₹20-70 LPA, often including ESOPs. Even here, he said, ₹70 LPA represents the upper band rather than the norm.
Lastly, he said that only 2-5% of engineers work at elite firms such as Google, Meta, Amazon, Uber and Tower Research Capital, where ₹70 LPA packages are more common. “When you combine all these segments, the weighted average salary in Bangalore comes to - ₹18–20 LPA,” Vineeth wrote, adding that nearly 80% of engineers earn below ₹40 LPA and ₹70 LPA falls within the top 5% of roles.
He also explained why the higher salary figure appears more widespread than it actually is. “Social media bias - Only high packages get posted. Peer bubbles - Product and startup circles skew perception. CTC structures - Stocks, ESOPs and bonuses inflate numbers,” he said.
“IMO, ₹70 LPA is not the norm, it’s concentrated in a very small, high-performing segment of companies. It’s common in your feed, not in the full market,” the entrepreneur concluded.
How did social media react?
The post struck a chord with several users, many of whom echoed similar views about salary disparity and perception gaps.
One user wrote, “Agree - it’s just rosy picture not based on ground reality.”
“70 LPA is Director equivalent salary. On average for 50 engineers there will be 1 Director. So less than 2% of IT staff in Bangalore get 70 LPA or more,” commented another.
“If 70 lpa was that common we would have seen engineers roaming around in range rovers.. Not sneaking into fully loaded metro at majestic station... Average salary is hardly 8-10 lpa with 90 percent freshers earning<8 lpa,” said a third user.
“If you happen to be surrounded by guys earning the same salary, it feels the world is earning more or less the same,” one user wrote.
