Embedded Software Engineer Salary in India 2025: Freshers & Experienced

By Pavan Vadapalli

Updated on May 23, 2025 | 20 min read | 11.61K+ views

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Did you know that software engineering and development roles make up 70% of all tech job listings in India in 2025? This surge boosts demand for specialized skills, directly influencing the embedded software engineer salary in India. Firms seek experts in RTOS, embedded Linux, and low-level programming to build efficient, real-time systems.

In 2025, the embedded software engineer salary in India ranges from ₹4 lakh at IT service firms like TCS and Capgemini to ₹19.8 lakh in product companies like Ciena. Compensation reflects expertise in RTOS, embedded Linux, and firmware optimization across diverse applications. 

Learning AI integration and cloud-native DevOps pipelines enhances your value in this competitive field. Continuous upskilling in debugging tools and real-time system design is crucial to maximize salary growth.

In this blog, we will explore the embedded engineer salary trends 2025 that are prominent in India. 

Want to sharpen your skills for industry-relevant software engineering skills? upGrad’s Online Software Development Courses can equip you with tools and strategies to stay ahead. Enroll today!

Embedded Software Engineer Salary: Career Path

Embedded software engineers develop and maintain specialized software on dedicated hardware platforms rather than traditional computers. Their work involves programming microcontrollers, operating systems, and interfacing with sensors and actuators to control devices across industries. 

This role demands a deep understanding of hardware-software integration, low-level programming, and system optimization to meet strict performance and reliability requirements.

If you want to learn skills to help you excel in software engineering, the following courses from upGrad can help you succeed.

As the demand for embedded software engineers grows, your salary prospects improve significantly by learning cloud platforms like AWS and Azure Databricks for IoT integration. Familiarity with containerization tools such as Docker enables you to streamline embedded application deployment and testing. These advanced skills directly influence your embedded software engineer salary in India and are key differentiators for both freshers and experienced professionals.

Let’s explore what are the variations for embedded engineer salary by city in India in 2025.

1. Salary by City

The embedded software engineer salary in India varies significantly across different cities, influenced by factors such as cost of living, industry presence, and demand for specialized skills. 

Suppose you are an embedded engineer deciding between job offers in Pune and Ahmedabad. You weigh the higher average salary in Pune against Ahmedabad’s lower cost of living and personal lifestyle preferences. 

Making an informed choice helps maximize your embedded software engineer salary in India while balancing work-life priorities.

Here’s a tabular format to understand embedded engineer salary by city in 2025:

Location Annual Salary Range
Bangalore ₹2.4 Lakhs - ₹12 Lakhs
Delhi ₹2 Lakhs - ₹12 Lakhs
Mumbai ₹2 Lakhs - ₹9.1 Lakhs
Chennai ₹2.1 Lakhs - ₹11 Lakhs
Hyderabad ₹2 Lakhs - ₹11.2 Lakhs
Pune ₹2.2 Lakhs - ₹12.6 Lakhs

Source: AmbitionBox

Let’s explore distribution of embedded engineer salary by skills in 2025:

2. Salary by Skills

Embedded software engineers with strong skills in C and RTOS design achieve better performance on resource-constrained systems, raising their value in India’s job market. Expertise in embedded Linux and real-time programming enables you to build reliable firmware that meets strict timing and safety requirements. These specialized skills directly impact your embedded software engineer salary in India, setting you apart from general software developers.

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Skills Annual Salary Range 
C Language ₹3Lakhs - ₹4Lakhs
Software Development ₹4Lakhs - ₹12.0Lakhs
Embedded/Real Time/RTOS ₹4Lakhs - ₹10.0Lakhs
Linux ₹3Lakhs - ₹9Lakhs

Source: Glassdoor

3. Salary by Different Recruiters

Embedded software engineer salary varies widely between recruiters due to differences in company focus, project complexity, and industry specialization. For example, Ciena offers ₹13 lakh annually because it develops advanced embedded systems requiring high technical expertise and innovation. 

In contrast, Tata Consultancy Services provides ₹5.5 lakh, reflecting its broader service portfolio and larger volume of varied projects. Choosing recruiters with specialized embedded product development roles typically results in a higher embedded software engineer salary in India.

Here’s a tabular format of embedded engineer salary for experienced employees with respect to different recruiters. 

Recruiter Annual Salary Range 
Capgemini ₹4Lakhs - ₹8Lakhs
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) ₹4Lakhs - ₹6Lakhs 
HCLTech ₹4Lakhs - ₹8Lakhs
Knorr-Bremse ₹6Lakhs - ₹10Lakhs
Ciena ₹12.0L - ₹19.8L/yr

Source: Glassdoor

Also Read: 52+ Essential Software Engineering Interview Questions for Career Growth in 2025

4. Salary by Experience Level

The embedded software engineer salary in India grows steadily as you gain experience and develop your skills. Freshers typically earn entry-level salaries while building a foundation in embedded programming and system basics. With a few years of experience, your ability to handle more complex projects and technologies increases, boosting your pay. 

Senior engineers leading projects or working with AI and cloud integration enjoy the highest salary brackets in the field.

Here’s how salary of an embedded software engineer increase with experience:

Experience Level Annual Salary Range
Freshers (0-2 years) ₹1.6 Lakh - ₹9 Lakhs
Mid-Level (3 years) ₹2.7 Lakhs - ₹12 Lakhs
Senior (5 years) ₹2.9 Lakhs - ₹21.9 Lakhs

Source: AmbitionBox

5. Salary by Roles and Responsibilities

Embedded software engineer salary in India depends significantly on your specific role, each requiring specialized technical skills and responsibilities. From firmware development and system design to application programming and OS integration, the compensation reflects your expertise and impact on product quality and performance. 

Proficiency in advanced tools like TensorFlow for AI at the edge, PyTorch for model deployment, and Bootstrap for embedded UI development can further increase your earning potential.

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Here’s a role-wise distribution of embedded engineer salary trends 2025 to look for:

Role Annual Salary Range Key Responsibilities and Skills
Embedded Systems Engineer ₹3Lakhs - ₹7Lakhs
  • Develop and maintain C/C++ 
  • Microcontroller programming, troubleshooting.
Embedded Software Engineer ₹2.1 Lakhs - ₹12 Lakhs
  • Proficiency in embedded C
  • Linux
Embedded Applications Engineer ₹1 Lakh - ₹10 Lakhs
  • Knowledge of .NET CF
  •  Bootstrap.
Embedded OS Engineer ₹3.5 Lakhs – ₹7 lakhs
  • Configure and maintain embedded OS 
  • Device drivers, bootloader, OS security

Source: GlassDoor, Indeed, AmbitionBox

Also Read: Top 90 Mini-Project Ideas for Engineering Students in 2025

Skills required to become an Embedded Software Engineer

To build a strong foundation as an embedded software engineer, you need diverse specialized technical skills beyond basic programming. Your command over hardware interfacing, software lifecycle management, and system-level design heavily influences your embedded software engineer salary in India. Expertise in these areas prepares you to tackle complex embedded challenges across industries.

Critical skills and knowledge areas that affect the embedded software engineer salary in India include:

  • Firmware Development and Optimization: You should write highly efficient, resource-constrained firmware for devices with limited memory and processing power, using advanced C or C++ techniques such as inline assembly and compiler optimization flags.
  • Cross-Platform Toolchains and Build Systems: Proficiency with cross-compilation environments like the GNU Arm Embedded Toolchain, CMake, and Makefiles is essential for building and deploying code across diverse embedded targets.
  • Hardware Debugging and Validation: Experience with in-circuit emulators (ICE), boundary scan testing, and JTAG interfaces helps you perform deep hardware-level debugging, crucial for root cause analysis in embedded failures.
  • Low-Power and Real-Time Design: Knowledge of power management strategies, including clock gating and sleep modes, combined with real-time scheduling algorithms, ensures your system meets strict timing and energy constraints.
  • Communication Stack Implementation: Implementing and optimizing low-level communication stacks (e.g., Bluetooth Low Energy, Zigbee, Modbus) demands a solid understanding of protocol layers and timing requirements.
  • Security in Embedded Systems: Skills in secure boot processes, hardware encryption modules, and vulnerability assessment protect embedded devices from cyber threats, increasingly crucial in IoT and industrial automation.
  • Embedded System Lifecycle Management: Familiarity with Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines tailored for embedded environments. This includes automated testing frameworks and firmware-over-the-air (FOTA) update mechanisms, streamlining product delivery.
  • Advanced Scripting and Automation: Competence in Python or shell scripting enables you to automate build processes, hardware testing, and regression validation, increasing development efficiency.
  • Cloud and Edge Integration: Understanding how embedded devices interface with cloud services via REST APIs (HTTP/HTTPS) or MQTT protocols. It expands your capability to build connected systems incorporating AI and machine learning models at the edge.
  • Version Control and Collaboration: Extensive use of Git and GitHub workflows ensures collaboration in multi-developer embedded projects, maintaining code integrity and traceability.

Example Scenario: 

You develop optimized firmware in C for an industrial IoT device, balancing power efficiency with real-time sensor data processing. Secure boot and hardware encryption protect the device against cyber security  threats, ensuring data integrity and system reliability. You automate testing and deployment using Python scripts in a GitHub-based CI/CD pipeline, enabling seamless cloud communication via MQTT over HTTP.

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Now, let’s explore some of the industry-relevant qualifications that affects embedded software engineer salary in India.

Demanded Qualifications for Embedded Software Engineers

Taking on the role of an embedded software engineer typically requires formal education and recognized certifications. Familiar academic qualifications include a Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD degree in Computer Science, Embedded Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Robotics, or related fields.

Key certifications that have a significant impact on embedded software engineer salary in India are as follows: 

  • Certified Embedded Systems Engineer (CESE): Validates practical embedded development and system design skills.
  • Project Management Professional (PMP): Recognized globally, this certification enhances your ability to manage complex engineering projects.
  • Certified LabVIEW Embedded Developer (CLED): Focuses on NI LabVIEW embedded software expertise.
  • Embedded Linux Engineer Certification (ELEC): Demonstrates proficiency in embedded Linux environments.
  • Automotive Functional Safety Certification (ISO 26262): Essential for engineers working in automotive embedded systems ensuring safety compliance.
  • ISTQB Certified Tester – Foundation Level: Adds value for those involved in embedded software testing.

Additionally, hands-on experience gained through internships, training programs, and boot camps significantly strengthens your profile and increases your embedded software engineer salary in India.

If you want to upskill yourself for enterprise-grade software development and engineering, check out upGrad’s Data Structures & Algorithms. The 50-hour free certification will give you hands-on expertise on arrays, blockchains, and algorithms to become future-ready.

Conclusion

Salaries for embedded software engineers in India 2025 range from ₹3 lakh for freshers to over ₹20 lakh for experienced professionals. Learning hardware-software integration, real-time debugging, and AI/ML model deployment on edge devices can significantly boost your compensation. To maximize salary, focus on continuous learning, certifications like ISO 26262, and gaining hands-on experience with cloud platforms such as AWS and containerization tools like Docker.

If you want to learn computational skills to become future-ready. These are some of the additional courses of upGrad that can help you in enterprise-grade software engineering. 

Curious which courses can help you excel in software engineering? Contact upGrad for personalized counseling and valuable insights. For more details, you can also visit your nearest upGrad offline center.

Boost your career with our popular Software Engineering courses, offering hands-on training and expert guidance to turn you into a skilled software developer.

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Reference Links:
https://www.nucamp.co/blog/coding-bootcamp-india-ind-getting-a-job-in-tech-in-india-in-2025-the-complete-guide
https://www.ambitionbox.com/profile/embedded-software-engineer-salary/pune-location
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https://www.ambitionbox.com/profile/embedded-software-engineer-salary/chennai-location
https://www.ambitionbox.com/profile/embedded-software-engineer-salary/new-delhi-location
https://www.ambitionbox.com/profile/embedded-software-engineer-salary/hyderabad-location
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. How does learning RTOS impact embedded software engineer salary in India?

Learning RTOS enables you to design systems that handle multiple real-time tasks efficiently, which is critical in embedded applications. This skill increases your embedded engineer salary for freshers as it sets you apart early in your career. For experienced professionals, deep RTOS knowledge often leads to leadership roles managing complex projects. Consequently, the embedded software engineer salary in India reflects the high demand for RTOS expertise across industries.

2. What role does proficiency in embedded Linux play in salary growth?

Proficiency in embedded Linux lets you develop flexible, scalable firmware that supports complex devices and networking capabilities. This expertise boosts embedded engineer salary for freshers working on Linux-based embedded projects. Experienced engineers with Linux skills handle device driver development and system integration, commanding higher pay. Thus, embedded software engineer salary in India strongly correlates with your embedded Linux capabilities.

3. How do communication protocols affect embedded engineer salary for experienced roles?

Expert knowledge of communication protocols like CAN, SPI, and UART ensures seamless data exchange between embedded hardware components. Embedded engineer salary for freshers increases when they demonstrate basic protocol implementation skills. Experienced engineers managing multi-protocol integration or automotive systems earn even higher compensation. Embedded software engineer salary in India values engineers who can implement and optimize these critical protocols.

4. Does knowledge of AI and machine learning influence embedded software engineer salary in India?

Embedded engineers skilled in deploying AI and ML models on edge devices add significant value to IoT and smart systems. This raises embedded engineer salary for freshers who begin incorporating machine learning into embedded solutions. For experienced professionals, optimizing AI workloads on constrained hardware commands premium pay. The embedded softwareengineer salary in India increasingly rewards expertise in AI integration and inference optimization.

5. Can cloud technologies affect embedded engineer salary for freshers?

Familiarity with cloud platforms like AWS and Azure enhances your ability to develop connected embedded systems. Embedded engineer salary for freshers improves as cloud integration becomes a key part of IoT projects. Experienced engineers designing scalable cloud-edge architectures see even greater salary growth. Embedded software engineer salary in India reflects this shift toward cloud-enabled embedded solutions.

6. How important is debugging expertise to embedded engineer salary for experienced professionals?

Strong debugging skills with tools like JTAG and oscilloscopes accelerate fault detection and system reliability. Embedded engineer salary for freshers rises when they can troubleshoot effectively during development cycles. Experienced engineers using advanced debugging techniques improve product quality, influencing higher compensation. Consequently, embedded software engineer salary in India rewards those with superior problem-solving abilities.

7. What impact does firmware optimization have on embedded engineer salary for freshers?

Efficient firmware minimizes power consumption and memory use, which is essential for embedded device performance. Freshers who show capability in optimization techniques see an increase in embedded engineer salary. Experienced engineers who refine firmware for critical applications like automotive or medical devices earn top salaries. Embedded software engineer salary in India highly values optimization expertise to meet stringent system constraints.

8. How do certifications influence embedded software engineer salary in India?

Certifications like ISO 26262 and Embedded Linux Professional validate your specialized knowledge and increase job prospects. Embedded engineer salary for freshers benefits from certifications by improving credibility and skill recognition. Experienced professionals use certifications to secure senior positions and higher pay. Embedded software engineer salary in India is often linked to the possession of these industry-recognized credentials.

9. Does DevOps knowledge contribute to embedded engineer salary for experienced roles?

Implementing DevOps practices and CI/CD pipelines streamlines embedded software development and accelerates release cycles. Freshers gain higher embedded engineer salary by adopting these methodologies early in their careers. Experienced engineers managing automated builds and deployments enhance product reliability and earn premium compensation. The embedded software engineer salary in India rises with proficiency in DevOps integration.

10. How does geographic location impact embedded software engineer salary in India?

Salary levels vary across cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Pune, reflecting local industry demand and living costs. Embedded engineer salary for freshers often depends on relocating to tech hubs with better opportunities. Experienced engineers benefit from higher salaries in metros where product companies and startups are concentrated. Overall, embedded software engineer salary in India is influenced by strategic location choices.

11. What role does multi-language proficiency play in embedded engineer salary for freshers?

Knowing C, C++, Python, and scripting languages expands your ability to develop and automate embedded systems efficiently. Freshers with multi-language skills command higher embedded engineer salary by supporting diverse project requirements. Experienced engineers who can maintain heterogeneous codebases and integrate tools boost their earning potential. Embedded software engineer salary in India favors those with broad programming versatility.

Pavan Vadapalli

900 articles published

Pavan Vadapalli is the Director of Engineering , bringing over 18 years of experience in software engineering, technology leadership, and startup innovation. Holding a B.Tech and an MBA from the India...

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