With a strength of 1.1 million men, the Indian Army is the 2nd largest in the world, and stands as the dominant land power in South Asia. It’s capabilities are growing more modern in tandem with the growth of the Indian economy, but it is that very economic growth that poses a significant problem for the Army. To keep a pool of talented officers, the Indian Army must compete with the civilian economy for educated, motivated people, a competition already familiar to the US Army and the British Army. India is starting to address this, but as it stands today, the Army is ill-equipped to attract a share of the best and the brightest.
Pay in the Army
The Indian Army does not have the “up or out” policy that is well-known to those familiar with the US military. It is possible for a talented supply major to stay in the same job (albeit at different postings) and hold the same rank for many years. They are not dismissed for failure to achieve promotion within a certain period of time. Thus, their monthly salary is based both upon rank and time served in rank, with an upward, sliding scale.
For example, Lieutenants receive a base salary of 8,250 rupees (rs) per month. They then receive an additional 300 rs for every year in rank until reaching the maximum salaryof 10,050 rs, or until they are promoted. So, a Lieutenant who had served at that rank for 4 years is paid 9,450 rs per month, almost the same as a first year Captain.
Indian Army Monthly Salaries by Rank and Seniority
Captains: 9,600 rs per month, plus 300 rs per year served to 11,400 rs
Majors: 11,600 rs per month, plus 325 rs per year served to 14,850 rs
Lt. Colonels: 13,500 rs per month, plus 400 rs per year served to 17,100 rs
Colonels: 15,100 rs per month plus 450 rs per year served to 17,350 rs
Brigadiers: 16,700 rs per month, plus 450 rs per year served to 18,050 rs
Maj. Generals: 18,400 rs per month, plus 500 rs per year served to 22,400 rs
Lt. Generals: 22,400 rs per month, plus 525 rs per year served to 24,500 rs
The Vice Chief of Staff and Chief of Staff have fixed salaries of 26,000 rs per month and 30,000 per month respectively.
Bonuses
Just like the US Army or British Army, the Indian Army is competing with a booming economy and faces the unpleasant prospect of imminent action (due to constant tensions with Pakistan). To make the Army more attractive as a career, it (as with the American and British services) offers bonus payments to those with special skills that it wants to retain. These bonuses take the form of an annual payment, the amount depending on how valuable the skills in question are rated. The brackets are 3,000 rs, 4,500 rs, 7,500 rs and 10,000 rs, depending on the qualifications of the individual.
Placed in context, our Lieutenant with four years of service would receive a little more than an extra month’s pay every year if his skills were considered especially valuable. This is not much of an incentive to remain in the military, and looks very small indeed compared to similar bonuses. For example, that same Lieutenant in the US Army would receive $12,000 in bonuses for fluency in a strategically useful language. While no one expects India, still a relatively poor country, to match American pay, it is revealing that this annual bonus for languages does not become equal to anyone’s monthly pay until one reaches the ranks of the US Army’s most senior generals. It is a substantial amount of money, both in relative and absolute terms.
The exchange rate for US dollar (US$) is usually 50-45 Indian rs. A first-year captain is paid between approximately US$250 and $300 each month, making for an annual salary of US$3,600. This is many times greater than India’s per capita wealth, which is just below US$950. However, India is a country with wide income disparities, and the typical middle-class Indian can expect to do better. The income range between the lower middle and upper middle class (encompassing some 50 million Indians) in India is US$4,300 and US$22,000 annually. Ergo, a first year Captain in the Indian Army is not paid as well as a typical lower middle class Indian.
Of course, dollar comparisons can be misleading. In terms of purchasing power parity, the real value of that Captain’s income almost triples to between US$9,000 and US$10,000. That is a more realistic description of what that pay is actually worth in India, and it is substantial. However, a US Army Captain can expect to make at least $40,000 a year, and that is before any bonuses are factored in. Clearly, the Indian Army needs to raise its pay scale, as well as widen its bonus system, if it is to compete for some of India’s best human capital.
