Data Scientist Salary in India: All You Need to Know

Who is a Data Scientist?

A professional whose main job is to collect unstructured sets of data, structure it, analyse it, and process that data to get insightful and predictive interpretations is data scientist. These interpretations are used by organisations to make decisions. A data scientist needs to be good in mathematics, statistics, and computer science. This profession is one of the most upcoming professions in the country and already finds itself among the highest paying careers in India.

In the following blog, you will find all the information you need regarding the salary of a data scientist in India including their duties and responsibilities, skills required, and other important information. This information will help you if you are looking to pursue a career as a data scientist. Read on to know more.

What Does a Data Scientist Do?

A simple definition for this would be that data scientist is an expert processor of big data, but there is a whole lot more to it. Right down from collecting data according to the parameters set, to interpreting to get insightful actionable data, a data scientist has many important tasks at hand. They make use of analytics to make sense of big data and help improve all aspects of business and business decisions.

Data Scientist Duties and Responsibilities

Data scientist has emerged as such an important profession that a lot is expected from them. To know more about this, here are the duties and responsibilities of a data scientist:

• Design and automate data collection from processes from accurate sources.
• Create structured data sets for the data to be classified accordingly.
• Create analytics algorithms for big data processing.
• Analyse the data to get insightful information, trends, and patterns.
• Make reports and presentations to show data in visually understandable formats.

Skills and Qualifications Required for Data Scientist

Though new, data science is a demanding field owing to the importance their work has for the success and growth of the business. Therefore, you need to have the following general skills and qualifications to do well as a data scientist:

A) Skills Required for Data Scientist

• Programming and technical skills are a must as they mainly work and even develop software and tools.
• Data scientists need to be good at analysis as this is the most important aspect of their job.
• Mathematical and statistical skills are also an integral part of the job, so are a must.
• Attention to detail will help them spot data points, patterns, and anomalies.
• Predictive skills are important for predictions backed by sound data.
• Business acumen is important as most of their work is for the betterment of the business.

B) Qualifications Required for Data Scientist

• Bachelors degree in science, computer science, or commerce.
• Masters degree or diploma like MBA or PGDM or diploma in data science.
• Certification in data science.

Average Data Scientist Salary in India

In just a small amount of time, the data scientist profession has made a huge impact. Therefore, it is one of the highest-earning professions. According to the latest figures, data scientists are making an annual salary in the range of INR 3.43 lakhs to INR 20 lakhs with INR 8.14 lakhs being the median average salary figure. These numbers will get exponentially better in the coming years.

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Parameters That Affect Data Scientist Salary in India

There are always many parameters that affect the data science salary in India. You need to know about these to understand the various factors which affect the Data Scientist salaries in India:

Here are a few key parameters which affects the Data Scientist salaries in India:

1. Experience Affects Data Scientist Salaries

Experienced Having ample experience in data science can push your salary figure by a staggering 125%. Data science is an upcoming field, meaning, there arent too many experienced professionals and those who are experienced are worth a premium.

Mid-Career – Mid-career is also a good place to be with a salary 69% higher than the average. Mid-career data scientists are also high in demand and short in supply. Hence, the impressive salary hike.

Early Career – Data scientists who are early in their career will make a salary figure right around the average figure or maybe around 5% less. However, considering the rising demand for the profession, they will get good hikes.

Entry Level – Entry-level data scientists get a salary that is almost 36% lower than the average. But this figure is not disheartening as even entry-level data scientists make more money than other entry-level professions.

Late-Career – Professionals who decide to pursue data science late in their career are at a slight disadvantage with a salary figure that is 86% lower than the average, but this figure will get better with time as the demand for data science just keeps growing.

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2. Skills that Affect Data Scientist Salaries in India

The data scientist’s salary in India is also subjected to a few additional skills. These skills will further push the salary figures they can get or negotiate when they are in the job market. Most of these skills are technical competencies that will aid them in their job. You can pick up these skills to improve your salary figures.

Knowledge and education in Natural Language Processing (NLP), statistical analysis, deep learning, big data analytics, data modelling, machine learning, and R language are extremely useful for a data scientist, so if you do these, you will get a hike in your salary figures according to the table given below.

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3. Pay Difference by Location in India

Location is also a big differentiator when it comes to the salary of data scientists. The reason why location plays an important part is because of the companys location in a particular area. Different areas have a different cluster of companies, and data scientist being a technologically advanced job will see higher or lower demand based on the industry and companies in the location.

Bangalore being the IT hub of the country has a huge demand for data scientists and hence, the salary figures in the city are the best. Similarly, the salary for a data scientist in Kolkata is low as there are few IT or tech-based companies in the city. Check out the list and table given below according to Payscale for data scientist salary in India based on location:

• Hyderabad ₹795,023
• Bangalore ₹984,488
• Mumbai ₹788,789
• Chennai ₹794,403
• Pune ₹725,146
• Kolkata ₹402,978

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4. Data Scientist Salaries by Employer

The employer is the biggest deciding factor for a data scientist’s salary. Though most employers follow industry trends and pay the prevailing market salary figures, if they like a candidate and need a data scientist, they will pay salaries higher than the prevailing average salary figure.

Remember, theres also competition between employers to hire the best data scientists and have a top-class team to take advantage of the increased importance of data science and business analytics. So, employers can also drive up the salary figures. In the following graphic, check out the top data scientist employers and the salaries they are paying:

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5. Other Parameters That Affect Data Scientist Salaries

There are still other factors that affect the data scientist’s salary in India. These factors may not have a huge impact, but they still make a difference. These parameters are:

• The industry you get a job in. Data scientists are also required in other industries as they can make a difference in operations and performance.
• The economic condition of the country also plays a part. If the economy is doing well, expect better salaries and vice versa.
• Management programmes and certifications. Companies look for candidates who can move up into management and these certifications also get a better salary.
• Your previous salary figures. You always get a salary more than your previous salary figure, so ensure you are leaving with a decent salary figure.
• Your negotiations skills. While interviewing, you will be asked what salary you are expecting. So, sharpen your negotiation skills to get a good salary.

What Are Popular Skills for Data Scientists?

Other than the skills mentioned previously, there are a few more skills that will help you in your career as a data scientist. These skills and the effect they have on your salary are stated in the following graphic:

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What is the Pay by Experience Level for Data Scientists?

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There is no better teacher than experience. The industry understands this and rewards experienced data scientist candidates with higher salaries and growth. The following graphical representations show the improved salary figures for experienced candidates, except for the candidates in the late-career stage who experience a drop.

Why Should You Become A Data Scientist?

Data science is a good career, but why? What are the reasons to choose this career over other upcoming careers? Here are those reasons that why you should consider career as a data scientist:

• Futuristic Career – Data scientist is a career of the future. It is expected to penetrate many industries in the coming years and grow steadily in popularity.
• High Salaries – According to multiple studies, a data scientist is one of the highest paying careers in India, and the salary figures are expected to get better.
• Technological Knowledge – The data science course will put you at the peak of technological knowledge, which is always good to have.
• Job Opportunities in Big Companies – data scientists are hired by some of the biggest multinational companies. These companies are great to work for.
• Challenging Career – If you are a data scientist, you will not have a dull moment. This is an exciting and challenging career that will keep mentally sharp.

Summary

One of the finest features of a data scientist career in India is the salary. Therefore, it is important to know everything you can about this aspect and more before you embark on the data scientist career path.

You can get in touch with the experts at ASMs IBMR to know more about our MBA/PGDM courses in data science and other emerging technologies like cloud computing, Big Data, AI, and ML. These courses are in association with Amazon Web Services and are already attracting students from all over the country. Get in touch today to know more!