There are many management roles within an organization. Among all those roles, a particularly important role is operations manager. Operations managers help a company function smoothly and efficiently. They are responsible for multiple aspects of their organization and so, they earn a lucrative salary.

In the following points, you’ll discover how much an operations manager earns in India, what the average operations manager salary in India is, and how you can bag the best pay for this role. 

What is the Average Operations Manager Salary in India?

The average operations manager salary in India is INR 7.65 lakh per annum. Their pay starts from INR 2.96 lakh per annum and goes up to INR 20 lakh per annum depending on multiple factors such as experience and skills. 

Bonuses for this field range from INR 15,000 to INR 2.87 lakh. Similarly, commissions for operations manager range from INR 21,000 to INR 2.46 lakh while shared profits go up to INR 3.5 lakh per annum on average. 

The role of an operations manager is pivotal for any organization, which is why there’s an evergreen for operations managers in the market. Companies are constantly searching for talented individuals that can take up this role. 

In a 2017 talent survey where companies had to rank the greatest skills required at their organization, management ranked second while operations came third. People believe that such skill sets are needed in every aspect of the community including government and policy. 

The survey also found that companies are willing to pay higher for roles in management and operations if the individuals are talented. For a role such as operations manager, companies are willing to pay significantly higher than average if the candidate is talented enough. 

Another prominent reason why companies pay a high operations manager salary is that hiring is risky and time-consuming. Building a strong team takes time and effort, so companies focus on attracting the best talent by offering lucrative pay and benefits. 

An excellent operations manager is worth its weight in gold for any organization as they make the functioning of the company more efficient and help them get better results. It is an irreplaceable role because it’s a rare skill set to be good at. The survey also found that there’s a shortage of skilled operations managers so now is the perfect time to pursue a career in this field. 

What Does an Operations Manager Do?

An operations manager is responsible for overseeing the organization’s production of goods and services. They manage multiple departments including warehousing, purchasing, and warehousing. Operations managers ensure that their company runs properly, efficiently, and effectively such that their products and services meet or exceed their customers’ expectations. 

Operations managers have to ensure that their company’s daily functions comply with the rules and regulations of central, state, and local authorities. As a result, they must remain well aware of the recent changes in their industry rules and regulations. 

Apart from handling compliance, operations managers have to review budgetary information, coordinate educational assignments for employees, perform a cost-benefit analysis, and monitor expense reports as parts of their duties. 

They conduct performance reviews of the staff to see which staff members are working optimally and which aren’t. Operations managers have to stay on top of the recent trends in the market related to their products and services as well. They play a huge role in the long-term planning of their organization particularly in areas focused on operational efficiency. 

Not only do they look after the production of goods and services but they also manage support services (IT, HR, and Finance) and improve their function by enhancing cooperation and coordination between them.

They work in almost every industry including healthcare, retail, hospitality, manufacturing, transportation, etc. While they work in office hours in the conventional setting, they might have to travel occasionally depending on their employer. 

Factors Affecting the Average Operations Manager Salary in India

You must have noticed that the range for operations manager salary in India is quite significant. That’s because your pay in this field depends on a lot of factors. Knowing how these factors affect your salary will help you plan your career better and make progress accordingly. 

Primarily, the following factors affect your operations manager salary in India:

• Skills
• Experience
• Location

Let’s now take a deeper look at how each one of these factors affects your salary: 

Skills

The most important factor that affects your pay as an operations manager is the skills you have. An operations manager has a lot of responsibilities and to fulfil them, they must be adept at multiple areas of management and organization. 

Moreover, the demand for certain skills increases according to the latest industry trends. By developing those in-demand skills, you can easily bag high-paying roles in this field and advance your career quickly. 

Currently, the most in-demand skill for operations managers in India is Program Management. Operations managers with this skill earn 187% more than the industry average. After that, the second-most in-demand skill for these professionals is IT Security and Infrastructure as it offers 127% more than the average pay. Other skills that offer above-average salaries to operations managers are:

• Technical Services (92% more than the average)
• Financial Compliance (71% more than the average)
• Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP (89% more than the average)
• IT Consulting (79% more than the average)
• Strategic Planning (82% more than the average)
• Forecasting (74% more than the average)
• Total Quality Management (70% more than the average)

By developing these skills, you can easily get better pay and enhance your job prospects as an operations manager. 

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Experience

Your professional experience plays a huge role in determining how much you will earn as an operations manager. As you gain experience in this profession, you earn more.

Entry-level operations managers earn 53% less than the average while early-career professionals in this field earn 43% less than the average. Conversely, late-career and highly experienced operations managers make 30% and 58% more than the industry average. 

An operation manager with less than a year’s experience can expect to make INR 3.62 lakh per annum on average (including bonuses). Similarly, an operations manager with one to four years of experience earns INR 4.37 lakh per annum on average. Professionals in this field that have five to nine years of experience make INR 6.95 lakh per annum while those with 10 to 19 years of experience make INR 9.97 lakh per annum on average. 

Finally, operations managers with more than 20 years of professional experience earn INR 12 lakh per year on average. 

Also, keep in mind that with sufficient experience and skills, you can get promoted to senior roles in your organization such as General Operations Manager or Senior Operations Manager. These roles offer higher salaries and even better growth prospects. Hence, you should focus more on these factors than the other two. 

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Location

Every city has its peculiar features and one of those features is its cost of living. Different cities offer different salaries to operations managers and it’s vital to understand this distinction so you can plan your career accordingly and make better-informed decisions about the same.

Some cities offer better than average salaries to operations managers. These include Bangalore (29% more than the average), Pune (13% more than the average), and Chennai (19% more than the average). 

On the other hand, you’ll find cities that offer less than average pay to operations managers such as Kolkata (33% less than the average), Jaipur (24% less than the average), and Ahmedabad (17% less than the average). 

How to Bag the Top Operations Manager Salary in India

We know that the pay of an operations manager depends on multiple factors. However, if you want to accelerate your growth in this field and bag the most lucrative jobs as an operations manager, you should focus on the factor you control the most, your skills. 

By developing the right skills, you can easily bag the top operations manager salary in India. The best way to learn the necessary skills and get the qualification is through getting an MBA. At upGrad, we offer a global MBA program with Deakin Business School. 

It will teach you all the subjects you need to become a skilled operations manager. Getting an MBA will put you an advance over your peers and help you stand out. The course will give you a structured curriculum so you will learn all the concepts step-by-step and efficiently. 

Our MBA (Global) with Deakin Business School is a 2-year program that offers dual credentials: MBA from DBS and PGPM from IMT Ghaziabad. You will learn multiple concepts in this course such as Integrated Business Strategy, Design Thinking, Business Growth Strategies, Strategic Thinking and Planning Abilities, International Business, and many others. 

You only need to have a bachelor’s degree with a maximum of 50% marks and a minimum of three years of full-time relevant work experience to be eligible for this program. 

Final Thoughts

Now you know why the average operations manager salary is so high in India. These professionals act as the backbone for their companies and handle their daily operations. 

Due to lockdown across India, multiple universities and b-schools are now offering their MBA programs online. You can consider some of these world-class MBA programs offered by top Business schools. One of the top MBA learning platforms in India, upGrad can help you apply for an MBA from Liverpool Business School with a specialization in marketing.

Learn MBA Courses from the World’s top Universities. Earn Masters, Executive PGP, or Advanced Certificate Programs to fast-track your career.