Wholesale prices rose 11.4%. Shop prices rose 5.5%.
Wholesale prices are rising 2.1x as fast as retail prices: WPI 11.39% vs CPI 5.54% in September 2026. The lines crossed in March.
CapitalVia Research Desk ·
Data story · 21 Oct 2026
Salaries · Aon India survey 2026-27
IT services pay will rise 6.6% in 2027. Inflation is already 5.5%.
India Inc expects to raise pay 9.1% next year, across 1,200+ companies. Technology consulting and services sits at the bottom, at 6.6%, for the second year running.
Tech consulting & services, 2027
6.6%
Lowest of 17 industries · same as 2026
India Inc average, 2027
9.1%
Projected · up from 9.0% actual in 2026
Scroll
Every industry clears inflation. One barely does.
Projected salary increase for 2027, by industry. Dashed line: September 2026 retail inflation (CPI), 5.54%.
IndustryIndia Inc averageOutlierCPI 5.54%
NBFCs
10.1%
CPI 5.54%
Energy (oil, gas, power)
9.9%
Real estate / infra
9.8%
Funds & asset mgmt
9.6%
Life sciences
9.6%
Automotive
9.5%
Engineering design
9.5%
Tech platforms & products
9.5%
Global capability centres
9.4%
Retail
9.4%
Wealth
9.4%
Engineering / mfg
9.3%
India Inc average
9.1%
FMCG
9.1%
Banking
8.5%
Life insurance
8.4%
Chemicals
8.0%
Tech consulting & services
6.6%
0%5%10%
Same sector, different raise
Build tech products and the 2027 budget is 9.5%. Sell tech services and it is 6.6%, a 2.9-point gap inside the same industry.
2026 actual
9.5%
9.0%
6.6%
ProductsAvgServices
2027 projected
9.5%
9.1%
6.6%
ProductsAvgServices
What is left after inflation Estimate
If prices keep rising at September 2026's 5.54%, a raise only buys the difference. Real increase = (1 + raise) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1.
India Inc average
Raise
9.1%
Inflation
5.54%
Real
≈3.4%
Tech consulting & services
Raise
6.6%
Inflation
5.54%
Real
≈1.0%
≈1%
The real raise in IT services at today's inflation, about a third of India Inc's ≈3.4%.
Budgets held flat. People left anyway.
Overall attrition in Aon's sample rose to 18% in 2026, even as raise budgets barely moved.
17.1%
16.2%
18.0%
202420252026
The same survey finds established use of AI productivity tools rose from 46.1% of employers in 2025 to 56%, and pay premiums for AI, ML and data-science roles grew by about 10%.
What it means
Salaried employees
The headline 9.1% is an average. Your industry and skill set matter more. In tech, the services-to-products gap is wider than the gap between most industries.
Founders
Attrition at 18% on flat budgets means pay alone is not holding people. Targeted raises for scarce skills are where employers are moving money.
Business leaders
Benchmark against your own industry line, not the national average. A 6.6% budget and a 10.1% budget are both "market" depending on where you sit.
More from Insights
All storiesOfficial urban inflation is 4.9%. Urban India feels 8.4%.
Households in 19 cities say inflation feels like 8.4%, 1.7× the official urban rate of 4.88%, and expect 10.0% a year from now.
In January, villages and cities had the same inflation. Now villages pay 1.2 points more.
Rural prices are rising at 6.08% a year against 4.88% in cities, and the gap has widened every month since January.