How do IITians get a package of almost 1 crore? by Aman Goel
Answer by Aman Goel:
They don’t.
- The Facebook package you’ve heard of includes 4 years of stocks that are ‘one time’
- The base packages are low. In the range of 60–90 lakhs per annum
- The purchasing power parity is way different in India. If you are saving all of the money and sending back to India, then the story is different. However, this isn’t generally the case. For instance, a pizza in the US costs around $20. That’d be about Rs. 1,350. With Rs. 500 or so, you will get the best pizza in India. The $20 pizza in US will be just okayish. Typically, the real value of $1 is Rs 30. So, the $20 pizza above will cost Rs. 600 in India.
- Tax rates are high. In the US for instance, you need to pay 35% on your salary in California. If you are in San Francisco city, then you got to pay 5% additional city tax.
Some edits based on feedback from comments:
- 60–90 lakhs IS low. 60–90 lakhs is NOT 60–90 lakhs. It is $100k – $120k. Don’t convert the money to INR when you won’t be spending it in INR.
- Some have talked about the ‘real’ value of $1 in INR. I have used a value of Rs. 30 for $1. Some have suggested that the value is actually Rs. 15. That in fact makes matters worse because that means, Rs. 500 pizza will not cost $20, but will cost $30+. That’s expensive man!
- There is a big opportunity cost of staying away from family. This holds particularly for Indians because we Indians tend to have a collectivistic society. This certainly won’t count in the ‘package’, but it does count overall.
- Definitely the work life and the amount of cutting edge research going on is more in the US. But that won’t mean that nothing is going on in India.
Overall, there are pros and there are cons. An advantage factor for someone might be a disadvantage factor for someone else. Make your own call 🙂
Finally, if it adds credibility to the answer, then I would like to mention that it isn’t the case that grapes are sour for me and that is why I am writing this answer. I am one of those who has a 1+ crore package in my hand. I am writing this just to enlighten people who are obsessed with ‘1 cr’.