Quick Summary
Chemical engineering is one of the most versatile and rewarding branches of engineering, offering career opportunities across industries such as energy, pharmaceuticals, food processing, petrochemicals, and environmental management. From designing chemical processes to innovating sustainable materials, chemical engineering jobs play a vital role in modern industry and environmental progress.
Whether you’re a student exploring chemical engineering jobs for freshers or a professional seeking advanced roles in research and development, this guide will walk you through the top 25 chemical engineering jobs, their average salaries, responsibilities, and the future of chemical engineering in India.
Before diving into the job list, it’s essential to understand what is chemical engineering.
Chemical engineering is a branch of engineering that applies chemistry, physics, mathematics, biology, and economics to efficiently use, produce, transform, and transport chemicals, materials, and energy. Chemical engineers design processes that convert raw materials into valuable products ranging from fuels and fertilizers to medicines and cosmetics.
This discipline has evolved significantly with advancements in biotechnology, nanotechnology, and environmental sustainability. Today, the field extends beyond traditional manufacturing to include green energy, waste management, and sustainable material design making it one of the most future-proof engineering fields globally.
Chemical engineers employ their math and science skills to engage in problem-solving and create materials and products that involve chemical processing. They help produce fuel, medicines, foods, and many other products. Anything that involves a chemical, environmental, biological, or industrial process requires a chemical engineer to create and develop the systems, equipment, and materials that are used. Chemical engineers are also responsible for making sure chemical processes are safe, environmentally responsible, efficient and cost-effective.
The chemical engineering scope in India is broad and promising. India’s industrial growth, government initiatives like Make in India, and the rapid expansion of chemical, energy, and manufacturing sectors have increased the demand for skilled chemical engineers.
Primary Responsibilities: Process engineers design and optimize industrial processes used in manufacturing. They are primarily employed in India’s petrochemical, food processing, and energy sectors. Process engineers focus on maximizing efficiency, reducing costs, and ensuring safety. The average salary for a process engineer in India ranges from ₹5-8 lakh per annum.
Primary Responsibilities: Chemical plant engineers manage and optimize chemical plants, oversee machinery operations, and ensure plant safety. These professionals play a critical role in sectors like petrochemicals and manufacturing. The role requires a deep understanding of engineering principles and a solid grasp of safety protocols. Average salaries for chemical plant engineers range from ₹6-10 lakh per annum.
Primary Responsibilities: Petroleum engineers specialize in the extraction and refining of oil and gas. India’s oil and gas industry offers numerous opportunities for chemical engineers, particularly in drilling, refining, and sustainability efforts. This role typically offers higher salaries, ranging from ₹7-12 lakh per annum, depending on experience.
Primary Responsibilities: Chemical engineers in the pharmaceutical sector are involved in the production of medicines, ensuring both quality and efficiency. They work in research and development, regulatory affairs, and the manufacturing of drugs. Pharmaceutical engineering jobs in India offer a range of opportunities, especially in cities with thriving pharmaceutical industries like Hyderabad and Pune. Salaries for pharmaceutical engineers range from ₹5-9 lakh per annum.
Primary Responsibilities: Environmental engineers focus on reducing pollution, managing waste, and promoting sustainable industry practices. This career has grown significantly, given India’s focus on environmental sustainability. Ecological engineers typically earn between ₹6-10 lakh per annum, with job opportunities in both government and private sectors.
Key Responsibilities: Materials engineers develop and apply materials like polymers, plastics, and composites. Their work is integral to the automotive, manufacturing, and electronics industries. With the rise of new technologies, materials engineers are in high demand, with salaries ranging from ₹5-8 lakh per annum.
Primary Responsibilities: R&D engineers work on creating innovative solutions and products in chemical engineering. They are crucial in industries like biotechnology, renewable energy, and pharmaceuticals. Salaries for R&D engineers in India can vary greatly, typically ranging from ₹6-10 lakh per annum.
Primary Responsibilities: Quality control engineers ensure that products meet industry standards and safety regulations. They work closely with production teams to monitor the quality of products throughout the manufacturing process. This role is in demand across industries, with an average salary ranging from ₹4-8 lakh per annum.
Primary Responsibilities: A water engineer, or a water resources engineer, is a professional who helps create clean drinking water systems. Their duties can include designing water disposal systems, creating water treatment plans and ensuring water systems follow environmental guidelines. Depending on their role, they may use chemical engineering skills to design and test water to ensure it’s clean. Salary for water engineer in India, typically ranging from ₹4-5 lakh per annum.
Primary Responsibilities: A project engineer is an individual that oversees a technical project. They can work in a multitude of industries, including construction, energy production, architecture and manufacturing. Their responsibilities can range from designing project budgets and timelines, delegating project tasks to team members and monitoring project progress. They may be responsible for communicating with clients, ensuring the project satisfies local regulations, and assessing project quality during production. Salaries for project engineer in India, typically ranging from ₹4-6 lakh per annum.
Primary responsibilities: Energy engineers are responsible for monitoring energy use and energy efficiency projects and products. Energy engineers may take a specific area of energy such as heating, solar panels or air quality and focus on it. Energy engineers may assess the energy consumption of a building or company and recommend potential changes. Energy engineers may initiate energy efficient systems, processes and plans for new buildings. Salary for Energy engineer in India, typically ranging from ₹4-5 lakh per annum.
Primary responsibilities: A manufacturing engineer is a professional that assesses and improves manufacturing systems. Job duties can include evaluating a company’s existing manufacturing systems, recommending improvements to reduce costs or increase efficiency, and developing improvement plans. They may also develop new systems for businesses that produce new products and develop new procedures for organizations to maximize production. Salary for manufacturing engineer in India, typically ranging from ₹4-6.5 lakh per annum.
Primary responsibilities: A nuclear engineer is a professional that utilizes engineering skills to design and enhance processes that have to do with nuclear energy or radiation. Examples of duties would include developing new nuclear equipment, testing nuclear materials, and documenting safe disposal instructions. They may even manage a nuclear plant and ensure all personnel follow safety protocols.
Salary for manufacturing engineer in India, typically mid level ranging from ₹7 L–₹10.5 L per year.
Primary responsibilities: A mining engineer is a profession in which someone creates plans for new mines. They usually specialize in a type of mineral such as metal or coal. The responsibilities of mining engineers can include drafting the design for a new mine, directing the constructions of mines, designing alternative systems for safely extracting materials from down below and maintaining supervision over the whole mining process to make sure it is safe. Salary for manufacturing engineer in India, typically mid level ranging from ₹7 L–₹11 L per year.
Professionals interested in chemical engineering may pursue alternative roles where they can use their knowledge of chemistry and math to solve problems in production and manufacturing. Here are 12 additional roles that may involve chemical engineering:
To succeed in the competitive field of chemical engineering in India, professionals must possess both technical and soft skills:
Chemical engineers in India can find opportunities in PSUs, defense, research organizations, and regulatory bodies. Some of the top government organizations include:
PSUs are among the biggest recruiters of chemical engineers, offering high salaries and benefits. They recruit through GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering) or direct recruitment.
Chemical engineers are also hired in the defense and space sectors for research, explosives, and fuel development.
To secure a government job, candidates must qualify for specific exams. Some of the key recruitment exams include:
a) GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering)
b) UPSC Engineering Services Examination (ESE/IES)
c) DRDO & ISRO Scientist/Engineer Exams
d) BARC OCES/DGFS Exam
e) State Public Service Commission (PSC) Exams
The private sector offers a variety of Chemical Engineering job which is plentiful for students and recent graduates. Some of the industries hiring are oil and gas, energy, manufacturing, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, textiles, food processing and fertilizers. The private sector offers good salaries, good career pathways and ample entry level jobs for chemical engineering freshers.
Students can refer to the table below to attempt to find a few of the most common private sector Chemical Engineering jobs in India.
| Chemical Eng Jobs | Chemical Engg Job Description | Average Chemical Engg Jobs Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Chemical Engineer | Oversees the research, design, and development of chemical processes that transform raw materials into valuable products. | INR 5.2 LPA |
| Quality Control Engineer | Monitors product quality throughout the manufacturing process, addresses potential issues, and ensures that all chemical products comply with established quality standards. | INR 5.5 LPA |
| Petrochemical Engineer | Develops and designs chemical processes for the efficient extraction of petrochemicals from crude oil and natural gas. | INR 5 LPA |
| Biotechnologist | Conducts research, develops and optimizes bioprocesses, analyzes data, and ensures biochemical quality control in biotechnology labs. | INR 4.2 LPA |
| Environmental Engineer | Plans and works on sustainable and eco-friendly solutions to tackle environmental concerns related to air, land, and water quality. | INR 4.5 LPA |
| Food Scientist | Oversees the entire food production process, ensuring safety and adequate nutrition, while also developing methods to enhance food quality. | INR 7.8 LPA |
Chemical Engineering graduates offer a unique combination of skills and research capabilities, making them highly desirable candidates for all types of roles in India. Employers interested in their skillset recognize the value that Chemical Engineering adds to the workplace, and often offer attractive salary packages to acquire the best talent possible in the field.
Some of the top recruiters that offer Chemical Engineering jobs in India are listed below:
| Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited | Tata Chemicals Limited |
| Essar Group | Shell India |
| Hindalco Industries | Schlumberger Limited |
| Nirma | Reliance Industries |
| Pidilite | Ambuja Cements |
A number of well-known colleges in India have best placement support and excellent salary packages for Chemical Engineering graduates, enabling rewarding careers. With inspiring job prospects and competitive salaries, there are many colleges offering Chemical Engineering programs suitable for students looking to create a bright future. Let’s consider some of the top colleges in India and the average salary packages offered during their placement drives by recruiters.
| Chemical Engineering Colleges | Average Package Offered (in INR) |
|---|---|
| IIT Bombay Placements | INR 17 LPA |
| IIT Delhi Placements | INR 14 LPA – 20.5 LPA |
| IIT Madras Placements | INR 9.85 LPA – 17.5 LPA |
| IIT Guwahati Placements | INR 6.8 LPA – 17.5 LPA |
| IIT Roorkee Placements | INR 13 LPA |
| NIT Rourkela Placements | INR 6.5 LPA – 12.4 LPA |
| NIT Trichy Placements | INR 9.5 LPA – 15.50 LPA |
| SRM Institute of Science and Technology Placements | INR 6 LPA – 6.4 LPA |
Note: This information is sourced from the official website and hence may vary.
Government jobs offer competitive salaries, job security, and benefits such as pensions, medical facilities, and housing allowances.
| Organization | Job Role | Salary Range (INR per month) |
| ONGC | Chemical Engineer | ₹60,000 – ₹1,80,000 |
| IOCL | Process Engineer | ₹50,000 – ₹1,60,000 |
| GAIL | Project Engineer | ₹60,000 – ₹1,50,000 |
| DRDO | Scientist | ₹80,000 – ₹2,00,000 |
| ISRO | Scientist/Engineer | ₹75,000 – ₹1,50,000 |
| BARC | Scientific Officer | ₹70,000 – ₹1,80,000 |
| CPCB | Environmental Engineer | ₹50,000 – ₹1,20,000 |
| FSSAI | Quality Control Officer | ₹40,000 – ₹1,00,000 |
Chemical engineering is an exciting and diverse field that offers numerous opportunities for fresh graduates. If you’re a fresher looking to start your career in chemical engineering, you’re entering a sector with a growing demand for skilled professionals. From pharmaceuticals and petrochemicals to energy and environmental services, the scope of chemical engineering jobs for freshers in India is vast and promising.
India’s rapid industrialization, especially in sectors like petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, food processing, and renewable energy, has led to a high demand for skilled chemical engineers. Freshers entering this field can benefit from the country’s growing focus on innovation, sustainability, and industrial development. As industries seek to optimize processes, improve safety, and reduce environmental impact, chemical engineering graduates are essential for designing, improving, and scaling operations.
As a fresher, you can explore various entry-level roles in chemical engineering, such as:
Finding chemical engineering jobs for freshers in India requires using the right platforms and strategies:
As a fresher, the chemical engineering job interview may involve technical and behavioral questions. Here are some tips to help you prepare:
With the evolution of technology, some of the best jobs for chemical engineers now combine data science, automation, and sustainability.
Here are emerging roles to watch:
Sustainability Engineer
AI-Driven Process Analyst
Battery Material Scientist
Hydrogen Fuel Specialist
Environmental Compliance Officer
These roles reflect the growing focus on cleaner, smarter, and more efficient chemical systems.
Chemical engineering is not just about reactions, it’s about innovation, sustainability, and impact. The wide range of chemical engineering job opportunities across industries makes it one of the most promising and future-ready professions in India and abroad.
With rising industrialization, global sustainability goals, and expanding research fields, the future of chemical engineering in India is bright. Whether you’re a fresher exploring chemical engineering jobs or an experienced professional aiming for leadership roles, this field offers unmatched growth, competitive chemical engineering salary packages, and the chance to shape a greener tomorrow.
Read More: top engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu
Chemical engineering jobs use chemistry, physics, and engineering principles to design, develop, and improve processes in energy, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing industries.
Example: A chemical engineer focuses on improving fuel efficiency in a refinery.
Tip: Build a strong foundation in process engineering and thermodynamics.
Industries include oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, food processing, environmental engineering, biotechnology, and materials science.
Example: A graduate works in a food processing company to improve packaging methods.
Tip: Look into niche fields like renewable energy and nanotechnology for future opportunities.
Key skills include problem solving, process design, analytical thinking, safety awareness, and proficiency in software like MATLAB or Aspen Plus.
Example: An engineer uses simulation tools to improve a wastewater treatment plant.
Tip: Build both technical and project management skills.
Entry-level salaries are typically higher than those in many engineering fields. The ranges depend on the country, company, and specialization.
For example, in India, freshers may earn ₹4 to 7 LPA, while experienced professionals can exceed ₹15 LPA.
Tip: Improve your skills in high-demand areas like process automation to boost your earning potential.
Apply through campus placements, job portals, and internships. Networking and skill certifications also improve your chances.
Example: A recent graduate gets a job in a pharmaceutical plant by converting their internship into a full-time role.
Tip: Highlight academic projects and industrial training on your resume.
Yes, many countries, such as the US, Canada, Germany, and Australia, have a high demand for chemical engineers in research, development, and production.
Example: An Indian graduate secures a role in a German chemical company specializing in polymers.
Tip: Check the licensing requirements or certifications needed in the destination country.
The need for renewable energy, sustainability, nanotechnology, and environmental safety is increasing.
For example, engineers are developing carbon capture technologies to combat climate change.
Tip: Keep up with green technology trends to stay competitive.
Authored by, Gagandeep Khokhar
Career Guidance Expert
Gagandeep is a content writer and strategist focused on creating high-performing, SEO-driven content that bridges the gap between learners and institutions. He crafts compelling narratives across blogs, landing pages, and email campaigns to drive engagement and build trust.
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Chegg India does not ask for money to offer any opportunity with the company. We request you to be vigilant before sharing your personal and financial information with any third party. Beware of fraudulent activities claiming affiliation with our company and promising monetary rewards or benefits. Chegg India shall not be responsible for any losses resulting from such activities.
