Sub Inspector Salary: Pay Level 6, In-Hand Estimate and State Differences

Sub inspector salary starts at Pay Level 6 of the 7th CPC pay matrix, which means ₹35,400 basic pay for a Delhi Police or CAPF Sub-Inspector recruited through SSC, and the same level for most state police SIs. Add the 60% Dearness Allowance in force since 1 January 2026 and the basic-plus-DA figure is ₹56,640. A practical in-hand estimate for a newly joined central SI is roughly ₹57,000 to ₹67,000 a month before income tax, and the spread comes from city class, housing and the pension deduction.

Most people searching this carry one wrong idea: that every SI in India earns the same. They don’t. Policing is a State subject, so a UP SI, a Bihar SI and a Delhi Police SI sit under three different pay notifications that happen to land at similar levels. This note settles what is common, what is state-specific and where each figure comes from.

Sub Inspector Salary at a Glance

The table below uses the central posts as the benchmark, because SSC prints their pay level in its notice. State rows come later, only where a state document gives the figure.

Where the Level 6 Figure Comes From

The figure comes from the recruitment notice itself. The SSC notice for the Sub-Inspector in Delhi Police and Central Armed Police Forces Examination, 2026 states that SI (GD) in CAPFs, SI (Executive) in Delhi Police and SI (Fire) in CISF all carry Level 6, ₹35,400 to ₹1,12,400. That is the most reliable starting point for the salary of a sub inspector anywhere in India, because it is printed by the recruiter.

A pay level is a column in the 7th Pay Commission matrix, and each column has cells that rise with years of service. Level 6 replaced the old grade pay of ₹4,200, which is why older state rules still mention “9300-34800 plus grade pay 4200”. Same post, older vocabulary.

Basic pay rises by one cell every year, at about 3% of basic. So a Level 6 SI doesn’t stay at ₹35,400; the annual increment moves the basic up once a year, and DA rises with it because DA is a percentage of basic.

Allowances and Deductions

Basic pay is the smaller half of the story. These are the components that move a Level 6 payslip:

• Dearness Allowance (DA): 60% of basic from 1 January 2026, under the Department of Expenditure office memorandum dated 22 April 2026. On ₹35,400 that is ₹21,240. The July 2026 instalment had not been notified when this note was written.
• House Rent Allowance (HRA): 30% of basic in X class cities such as Delhi since DA reached 50% on 1 January 2024, with lower slabs for Y and Z cities. HRA isn’t paid when government quarters are allotted, which is common in CAPF battalions.
• Transport Allowance: paid at the 7th CPC rate for the level and city, plus DA on it.
• Force-specific allowances: CAPF postings in notified areas carry risk and hardship allowances; the amount depends on the area category, so no single figure applies.
• Deductions: the pension contribution (10% of basic plus DA under NPS, or under the Unified Pension Scheme for those who opt for it), group insurance and income tax.

In-Hand Salary: A Worked Illustration

Here is one Level 6 payslip at entry, worked two ways. Treat both as estimates, not official salary slips: they assume no government housing, NPS at 10% and no tax yet deducted.

That gap of roughly ₹10,000 between two SIs at the same level is housing and city class, nothing else. A CAPF SI living in unit accommodation loses the HRA line entirely but may gain a hardship allowance, so the final figure can move in either direction.

Sub Inspector Salary by State

State SIs are paid under the state’s own pay rules, and those rules usually mirror the central level. The rows below are limited to figures we could trace to an official document; for any other state, the current recruitment advertisement from that state’s police board is the document to read.

The UP sub inspector salary follows the same arithmetic as the central table above for basic pay, but DA and HRA come from Uttar Pradesh government orders, not the central memorandum. UP announced a matching rise to 60% DA from 1 January 2026 in May 2026, with the cash increase reported to start from the May 2026 salary, so the basic-plus-DA figure for a new UP SI is also about ₹56,640. HRA differs because UP uses its own city categories.

How to Become a Sub Inspector

There are two doors, and they lead to different employers. The central door is the SSC CPO examination; the state door is the state police recruitment board. The police SI and constable exam guide covers the state papers in detail.

The SSC CPO 2026 notice sets these conditions for Delhi Police and CAPF SIs:

• Education: a Bachelor’s degree from a recognized university.
• Age: 20 to 25 years on 1 August 2026, with the usual relaxations (5 years for SC/ST, 3 for OBC).
• Stages: Paper-I, a Physical Standard Test and Physical Endurance Test, Paper-II and a Detailed Medical Examination.
• Vacancies (tentative): 205 for Delhi Police SI (male), 112 for Delhi Police SI (female), 1,320 for SI (GD) across the five CAPFs and 234 for SI (Fire) in the CISF.

Applications for the 2026 cycle closed on 30 September 2026, and the computer-based exam date was still “to be notified later” in the notice. In Uttar Pradesh, the UP Police Recruitment and Promotion Board runs the SI exam; it published the final result of the 2025 direct recruitment on 14 July 2026.

Duties and Powers of a Sub Inspector

An SI is the first rank in most police stations that can run a criminal case from start to finish. That is the real weight of the post, and it explains why the pay sits a full level above an Assistant Sub-Inspector.

In a state police station, an SI typically:

• registers FIRs and records statements;
• investigates cases and files the charge sheet;
• leads a beat or a small team of constables and head constables;
• often serves as the Station House Officer in smaller stations.

In a CAPF, the SI (GD) is a platoon-level leader on the ground, commanding men in deployments that range from border guarding to internal security. The Central Armed Police Forces note maps which force does what. The Indian police ranks guide shows where the SI’s single star sits in the hierarchy.

Promotions and Pay Growth

The first promotion is to Inspector at Level 7, entry ₹44,900. The UP service rules place Inspector one grade above SI in the same service, and the central forces follow the same ladder.

Beyond Inspector, the route depends on the force. In the CAPFs, Inspectors can be promoted to Assistant Commandant, a Group A post at Level 10. In state police, Inspectors move toward Deputy Superintendent of Police through departmental promotion. Each step is decided by service rules and vacancies, so timelines vary widely; nobody can promise a year.

SI Compared With Sibling Posts

This comparison helps when choosing between the SSC CPO and a state exam, or between policing and a desk post at a similar level.

What the 8th Pay Commission Means for SIs

The 8th Central Pay Commission was constituted by notification on 3 November 2025, chaired by Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai. As of October 2026 it is still consulting, with state visits scheduled for Bengaluru and Mumbai this month, and it hasn’t submitted its report. The 8th Pay Commission note tracks the background.

Central SIs in Delhi Police and the CAPFs will move to a new matrix only after the government accepts the report. State SIs get a revision only when their state adopts it, which has historically come later. Until then, Level 6 and the DA orders above decide the pay.

For an aspirant, the honest reading is this: the SI post pays the same entry level across most of India, so the choice between SSC CPO and a state exam should rest on where you want to serve, not on salary. The money differs at the margins through HRA and posting, while the work differs a lot.

Frequently Asked Questions

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