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Ask ten seniors what a fair internship stipend is and you'll get ten answers, most of them stories about one friend at one company. That's not much to negotiate with.
Here's the honest starting point. For most internships in India, no law sets a minimum stipend. What you do have are a handful of official numbers that tell you what serious institutions think a student's month of work is worth. Use them as anchors, adjust for your city and hours, and you'll know within a minute whether an offer is fair, thin or a red flag.
Is There a Minimum Internship Stipend in India
Not for a regular internship. The only workplace training with a legal stipend floor is apprenticeship. The Apprenticeship (Amendment) Rules, 2025 set the minimum at ₹12,300 a month for graduate or degree apprentices and ₹10,900 for diploma apprentices. An internship you find on your own usually isn't registered as an apprenticeship, so that number isn't binding on the company.
It's still the most useful benchmark you've got. It's the government's own view of what a graduate in training should earn each month, and it was revised recently, so it isn't some decade-old figure.
Official Stipend Benchmarks Worth Knowing
Government and regulator programs publish their stipends openly, which makes them a clean reference. Here's what a few of them pay, from sources we checked this month.
Program | Stipend | What to note |
|---|---|---|
Graduate apprentice (Apprentices Act) | ₹12,300 a month minimum | Legal floor, but only for registered apprenticeships |
PM Internship Scheme | ₹9,000 a month minimum | Raised from ₹5,000; runs six or nine months |
RBI Summer Placement 2026 | ₹20,000 a month | Up to three months; no housing, rail fare reimbursed for outstation interns |
SEBI legal internship | ₹10,000 on completion | Full time, at least four weeks, paid when the certificate is issued |
NITI Aayog Internship Scheme | Unpaid | Six weeks to six months, policy exposure, own laptop needed |
Sources: the PIB release on PMIS eligibility, April 2026, MCA's Lok Sabha reply on the raised allowance, August 2026, Indian Express on the RBI 2026 summer placement, SEBI's legal internship guidelines and the NITI Aayog internship guidelines.
Two things jump out. First, prestige doesn't track pay. NITI Aayog pays nothing and SEBI's legal desk pays a one-time amount, yet both are hard to get into because of the exposure. Second, the programs that want full-time work for months, like PMIS and RBI, put a clear monthly number in writing. That's the standard a private employer should meet too.
What Makes a Stipend Fair
A number on its own tells you little. ₹8,000 can be generous or insulting depending on what's attached to it. Judge every offer on these four things.
Hours and Duration
Work out the hourly rate. A four-hour-a-day remote role at ₹6,000 a month is a very different deal from a 9-to-7 office role at ₹8,000. Full time for three months or more is a job in everything but name, and it should pay at least the ₹9,000 to ₹12,300 band above.
Your City and Your Costs
If you have to move, the stipend should cover most of your living costs, or the company should help with housing or travel the way RBI reimburses rail fare. An unpaid month in Mumbai can cost you more than a paid one in Indore earns. Add up rent, food and commute before you compare offers.
The Work Itself
Are you shadowing, or are you producing things the company sells? A second-year B.Tech student in Pune writing production code, or a BBA student in Delhi running paid ad campaigns, is creating revenue. That deserves more than an intern who's mostly in training sessions.
For Perspective, Minimum Wages
Minimum wage rules generally don't cover interns, but they're a useful reality check. From 1 October 2026, the central minimum wage for an unskilled construction worker in Area A cities is ₹840 a day, per Mint's report on the Labour Bureau order. If a company expects a skilled student full time for a fraction of that, it's worth asking why.
Red Flags in a Stipend Offer
Most low offers are just low. A few are warning signs.
"Up to ₹15,000" with no base amount. Performance-linked pay with no floor often means ₹0 in practice. Ask what the guaranteed figure is.
Pay only at the end. A one-time payment can be fine for a four-week stint, but for a three-month role, ask for monthly payment by bank transfer.
Stipend mentioned only on a call or in WhatsApp. If it isn't in the offer letter, it isn't an offer.
Any fee from you. Training fees, kit charges and security deposits flip the deal around, and they're a classic fraud pattern.
The AICTE National Internship Portal sets the right expectation: stipends are declared upfront and paid to your bank account. For the full list of warning signs, read our guide on how to spot a fake internship before you apply.
How to Negotiate Your Internship Stipend
Most students never ask, so the bar is low. A polite, specific request rarely costs you an offer at a decent company. Do it once, after you have the offer and before you sign.
Thank them and confirm you're keen. Lead with the yes.
Name the gap with a reason, not a feeling. "I'd be relocating from Lucknow, and rent near your office runs about ₹12,000."
Ask for one clear thing: a higher monthly figure, a housing or travel allowance, or a review after the first month.
Get the final number in the offer letter before you resign from anything or book tickets.
A message as short as this works: "Thanks so much for the offer, I'm excited to join. Since I'd be moving to Bengaluru for this, would you be able to consider ₹15,000 a month, or help with accommodation? Happy to discuss."
If they say no, you've lost nothing. If the stipend is the only weak spot in a strong offer, it may still be worth taking. Our guide to paid vs unpaid internships helps you weigh that trade-off.
A Note for Employers
If you're a founder or HR lead setting a stipend, the official benchmarks above are a sensible baseline for full-time interns, and stating the number plainly in the listing gets you more serious applicants. Pay monthly, pay into a bank account and put it in the offer letter. See how posting on InternsGuru works.
Our Verdict
There's no single fair number, but there is a fair floor. For full-time work, anchor to the ₹9,000 to ₹12,300 range that PMIS and the apprenticeship rules point to, expect more for skilled work in costly cities, and treat a zero only as a short, clearly educational exception. Whatever the figure, it should be in writing and it should never flow from you to them.
Start with listings that show the stipend upfront. Browse open internships, or look at internships in Bengaluru if you're weighing a move to a higher-cost city.
