UPSC IAS Salary 2023 in India | Check Payscale, Career Growth, and Job Profile

We all know that with great power comes great responsibilities, but in the case of IAS, a great salary comes in the package as well. It is a known fact that every year many aspirants appear for UPSC but only a few crack the exam and become an IAS officer.

IAS salary in India is actually really good, but so are their responsibilities. If you are thinking the only attractive fact about being an IAS officer is its pay scale, then let’s talk about the responsibilities, perks, and career growth in this field. This article will cover the pay scale of an IAS officer after the 7^th commission.

Exclusive UPSC IAS Officer Salary 2023:

The 7^th pay commission provided a hike in the salaries of IAS officers. Both IAS salary and responsibilities are the reason why people appear in the UPSC exam.

To begin with, the monthly salary of an IPS officer is around Rs. 56,100, (salary in hand) excluding TA, DA, and HRA. It can even go up to Rs. 2,50,000 per month for a Cabinet secretary. The salary increases with the yearly increment.

Pay Level	Basic Pay	Required years of service	Post
			District Administration State Secretariat Central Secretariat
10	INR 56,100	1 to 4	Sub-divisional magistrate Undersecretary Assistant-Secretary
11	INR 67,700	5 to 8	Additional district magistrate Deputy Secretary Undersecretary
12	INR 78,800	9 to 12	District magistrate Joint Secretary Deputy Secretary
13	INR 1,18,500	13 to 16	District magistrate Special secretary – cum – director Director
14	INR 1,44,200	16 to 25	Divisional commissioner Secretary – cum – commissioner Joint Secretary
15	INR 1,82,200	25 to 30	Divisional commissioner Principal Secretary Additional Secretary
16	INR 2,05,400	30 to 33	–            Additional chief secretary –
17	INR 2,25,000	34 to 36	–            Chief Secretary Secretary
18	INR 2,50,000	Above 37	–            –            Cabinet Secretary of India

The IAS salary is governed by the grades of the IAS officers, which are assigned to them by their number of years in service. The IAS salary in India consists of basic pay, grade pay, HRA or House Rent Allowance, DA, or Dearness Allowance, Conveyance Allowance, and Medical Allowance.

The DA differs from city to city while the HRA is dependent on the residence of the IAS officer. HRA or House Rent Allowance ranges from 8%-24% of the basic salary of the IAS officer.

Must-Read UPSC IAS Salary in Training

UPSC IAS salary during training is not officially termed as salary, but called, “Special Pay Advance”.

The IAS salary during the entire training is Rs. 45,000, but they receive Rs. 38,500 because Rs. 10,000 is deducted from the total salary for the bill of mess food, tracksuit, uniform, horse riding costumes as well as miscellaneous expenses.

Special Pay Advance (entire training)	Rs. 45,000
Special Pay Advance received	Rs. 38,500
Deductions	Rs. 10,000

Important: UPSC IAS Officers’ Grades

There are 8 grades of IAS officers, according to which their salary is governed. Let’s have a look at those grades.

1. Junior Scale Grade:

 It is the first grade assigned to the IAS probationers and the posts included in this are:

• Sub-Divisional Magistrates or SDMs
• Sub-Divisional Officers or SDOs
• Sub-Collector

2. Senior Time Scale Grade:

All those officers who have completed 5 years of service assign this grade. The posts included in this grade are:

• Collector
• District Magistrate or DM
• Joint Secretary of a Government Ministry

3. Junior Administrative Grade:

The grade next in line is this which is assigned to the IAS officers who have completed 9 years of service and have become a member of the administrative group in the state bureaucracy. Here are some of the posts included in this grade:

• Head of different departments of the State Government.
• Special Secretary, Government of India

4. Selection Grade:

All those officers who have completed 12 to 15 years of service assign this grade. This stage is really important for IAS officers as in this stage they play a drastic role in policy decisions.

• Director in a field organization
• Secretary to a Ministry

5. Super Time Scale:

All those officers who have completed 17 to 20  years of service assign this grade. In this grade, officers don’t follow a regular posting as it depends on the State Government’s will. Apart from that, the state cadre strength plays an important role in this post. The post included in this grade is:

• Principal Secretary

6. Above Super Time Scale:

After 20 years of service, this grade is assigned. Now the IAS officers keep getting grades, according to which their salary increases. The posting depends on the Government’s will and the records and performance of the officer play an important role.

7. Apex scale:

This grade is the second top grade in India as well as the second to the Cabinet Secretary grade. After achieving success in previous postings, this grade is assigned to the IAS officers. The performance of the IAS officer and the Government will play an important role in the posting. This grade includes the following posts:

• Union Secretaries in different Ministries of Government of India like Finance Secretary, Home Secretary, etc.
• Chief Secretary of States.

8. Cabinet Secretary Grade:

The apex of the pyramid of IAS salary grades in India is this grade. Cabinet Minister is the topmost officer in India and is picked by the Prime Minister of India. He/she can choose from a list of officers provided to him by the Ministry of Personnel.

Their salary is decided and fixed by the Union Government of India, but paid from State funds.  All the benefits and salaries of the IAS officer are paid by the state to which they are assigned.

Know UPSC IAS Career growth 2023:

Number of years required in service	Posts
	State Secretariat	District Administration	Central Secretariat
1-4	Undersecretary	Sub-Divisional Magistrate	Assistant Secretary
5-8	Deputy Secretary	Additional District Magistrate	Undersecretary
9-12	Joint Secretary	District Magistrate	Deputy Secretary
13-16	Special Secretary-cum-Director	District Magistrate	Director
16-24	Secretary-cum-Commissioner	Divisional Commissioner	Joint Secretary
25-30	Principal Secretary	Divisional Commissioner	Additional Secretary
30-33	Additional Chief Secretary	No Equivalent Rank	No Equivalent Rank
34-36	Chief Secretary	No Equivalent Rank	Secretary
37+ years	No Equivalent Rank	No Equivalent Rank	Cabinet Secretary of India

UPSC IAS Job roles of IAS Officers: Updated

Posts	Job roles
Sub-divisional officer	All the development activities in the sub-division are handled by them. Their duty is to coordinate the work of different departments.
Divisional commissioner	All the general administrative activities which include law and order, revenue administration, and development administration at the divisional level, are handled by the divisional commissioner. They head the revenue administration in their division and hear the appeal against the orders of District Collectors.
District Magistrate/collector	They are responsible for managing the smooth administration of the district. He or she is responsible for making coordinating the official agencies functioning within a district as well as collecting revenue from the district.
Chief Secretary	The interdepartmental coordination is managed by the Chief Secretary. He or she advises the secretaries on interdepartmental difficulties.
Cabinet Secretary	They act as the chief coordinator of the central government and act as a link between the political system and civil services of the country. Their responsibilities include monitoring and coordinating the activities of multiple departments and ministries.

Perks and allowances of UPSC IAS Officers

Apart from the salary of an IAS officer, there are many perks and allowances offered by the government to the officers.

• Transportation: 

  Government chauffeurs and vehicles are provided to the IAS officers. More than one vehicle can also be provided.

• Security: 

  Security for the officer, as well as their family, is provided. For extra security, STF commandoes are also provided.

• Accommodation:

  The government provides accommodation to the IAS officers. They get additional help like cooking, house help, security guard, security for the family, etc.

• Bills: 

  All the bills, including water, phone, gas, and electricity are highly subsidized.

• Job security:

         One of the perks offered by the Government to the IAS Officers is job security.

• Study leaves:

   IAS Officers can get 2 years of study leave as well as can apply to prestigious foreign universities. Officers who have served for 7 years can apply for that and have to sign a bond that states they will return to the country and serve as IAS after some years. The expenses are covered by the Government up to some extent.

• Lifetime pension:

  IAS officers are offered a lifetime pension as well as a retirement pension.

• Post-retirement:

  Post-retirement, officers can be appointed to commissions. Apart from that, their services can be availed in different government departments.

If you have any queries regarding the UPSC IAS exam, you can ask in the comments.

UPSC IAS Exam Preparation

• Know about the exam:

Knowing all about the exam is the first thing you need to know before you begin your preparation. This means you have to check all the details like eligibility criteria, exam syllabus, exam pattern, and timeline.

After this, go through the previous year’s question papers and identify the exam pattern. Go through different articles, related to the UPSC IAS examination and get the required information.

• Build a strong base:

To build a strong base, always, I repeat, always begin with NCERTs. You will get all the basic conceptual knowledge from there, irrespective of your background. If you have hard copies then start making notes, if not, then you can download the PDFs of NCERTs.

• Strengthen your concepts with help books

After going through the NCERTs, start doing practice questions. NCERTs might not be very helpful in this case. That’s why you should study from additional help books and enhance your practical knowledge. Plus, these books come with unsolved question papers as well. Solve them and check your progress.

• Practice your answer writing and revision:

The second round of UPSC IAS is descriptive, which means you have to write your answer in paragraph form. For that, you need to prepare yourself and that’s only possible with practice.

Another important thing is constant revision. Make notes, revise them, then revise the previous topics once again to polish those concepts.

• Mock tests are a big yes:

Start giving mock tests, at least two months prior to your UPSC IAS Prelims. Perform the test just like an actual exam and check your weaknesses and strengths. Brush up on the concepts which you might have missed. This will help you with time and anxiety management during your actual exam.

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