In India, published rates for start at ₹11,000 a month on staff.
Pay rates for journalists in India, as published by unions, governments and surveys, each quoted as printed and turned into a day's pay to compare. How the pay guide works →
Each published rate as a day's pay
US$ a day at the ECB rate for the month. A month is 12 payments over 260 working days, or 13 or 14 where the agreement says so; a year is 260 days; a shift counts as a day.
| Type of work | What | As printed | US$ a day | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| On staff | Class V, Group 5 (Sub-Editor, Reporter, Correspondent ...) | ₹11,000–₹18,100 a month | $7.11 | MoLE · Wage board award · 1 Jul 2010 |
| On staff | Class V, Group 1 | ₹16,000–₹26,300 a month | $10.33 | MoLE · Wage board award · 1 Jul 2010 |
| On staff | Class I, Group 5 (Sub-Editor, Reporter, Correspondent, News Photographer ...) | ₹15,000–₹32,900 a month | $11.70 | MoLE · Wage board award · 1 Jul 2010 |
| On staff | Class I, Group 1 (Executive Editor, Resident Editor, Associate Editor ...) | ₹25,000–₹54,800 a month | $19.49 | MoLE · Wage board award · 1 Jul 2010 |
| Freelance | Monthly retainer, district part-time correspondent (average) | ₹9,250 a month | $4.52 | Prasar Bharati · Publisher’s rates · 1 Dec 2025 |
Advertised pay in India
Open marketWhat employers offered in public job ads over the last 12 months, from 44 job ads with pay. These figures come from the open job market, not from journalist.net, and we do not check them.
Journalism in India
Leading news outlets
The highest-ranked news sites based in India in EventRegistry's news-source ranking, most important first. Updated monthly.
In the 2026 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), India ranks 157 of 180, with a score of 32.0 out of 100. Down 6 places on the year before.
RSF World Press Freedom Index ↗By job type
Rates documents 5
Unions and bodies in India
Nearby
Lowest staff minimum in each country's agreements, as US$ a day.
About this data. These rates are compiled from publicly available sources and quoted as printed, with their date. We do not guarantee the accuracy of any figure. For information only: Journalist.net does not recommend or set rates. How we count