Under Secretary (US) salary

The Under Secretary (US) to the Government of India is a Group A gazetted post in the Central Secretariat Service, one grade above the Section Officer, placed at Level 11 of the 7th CPC pay matrix with an entry basic pay of Rs. 67,700. An Under Secretary heads a branch, a group of sections, in a ministry or department, and the post is filled mainly by the promotion of Section Officers with the requisite approved service. It is the first Group A rank in the direct Central Secretariat Service ladder.

This article sets out what an Under Secretary earns: the pay level and basic pay, the full monthly salary broken down by city class with the in-hand figure, the allowances, the income tax that at this level is no longer nil, the promotion ladder, and how the grade is filled. The figures use the dearness allowance of 60% in force from 1 January 2026; because dearness allowance is revised every six months, the gross and in-hand move with it.

The pay: Level 11 of the pay matrix

An Under Secretary is placed at Level 11 of the pay matrix, with an entry basic pay of Rs. 67,700, fixed under the CCS (Revised Pay) Rules, 2016. In the pre-2016 grade-pay terms, this is the Rs. 6,600 grade pay in Pay Band 3. The basic rises by a 3% annual increment each year, moving one cell up Level 11, so the first cells run Rs. 67,700, then Rs. 69,700, Rs. 71,800, Rs. 74,000 and upward, to the top of the level at Rs. 2,08,700.

The jump from the Section Officer grade is worth noting. A Section Officer sits at Level 8, with the non-functional scale in grade pay Rs. 5,400 after four years of approved service, and on promotion to Under Secretary moves to Level 11. There is no functional grade in between, so promotion to Under Secretary is a single step in both pay and responsibility. The benefit the Section Officer draws in the interval is the Non-Functional Scale, which is not the same thing as the Non-Functional Selection Grade, a separate benefit confined to the Organised Group A Services.

The full salary breakdown

The take-home depends on the city of posting, because house rent allowance and transport allowance both vary by city class. The three tables below build up the gross and the in-hand for an Under Secretary at the entry cell, at the current dearness allowance of 60%.

X-class (metro) city

Y-class city

Z-class city

This is the grade at which income tax stops being nil. For a metro Under Secretary the annual gross is about Rs. 16.8 lakh, so the taxable income after the Rs. 75,000 standard deduction is above the Rs. 12 lakh limit of the Section 87A rebate, and the new-regime tax works out to about Rs. 1,26,000 a year, or Rs. 10,500 a month. An officer who opts for the old regime and claims the house rent allowance exemption and the Section 80C and 80CCD(1B) deductions may pay less; the figure here uses the new regime, as the income tax for government employees article explains. The take-home also understates the reward, because the government adds 14% of basic plus dearness allowance, about Rs. 15,165 a month, to the National Pension System account over and above the salary.

The allowances

The dearness allowance is the largest add-on, at 60% of basic pay and revised every six months. The house rent allowance is 30%, 20% or 10% of basic pay for an X, Y or Z class city, the rates restored to those levels once dearness allowance crossed 50%; the city classification for HRA article lists the classes. The transport allowance is where the Under Secretary gains visibly over the Section Officer: at Level 11 the allowance is Rs. 7,200 a month in the higher-transport-allowance cities, against Rs. 3,600 for a Section Officer at Level 8, because the higher slab begins at Level 9. In other cities it is Rs. 3,600. Dearness allowance is paid on the transport allowance as well. The usual central government entitlements to children education allowance, Leave Travel Concession, leave encashment and gratuity apply, and the broader allowances framework covers the rest.

The promotion ladder

The Under Secretary is the entry rung of the Group A officer ladder in the Central Secretariat Service. Above it, the first promotion is to Deputy Secretary at Level 12, with an entry basic pay of Rs. 78,800, then to Director at Level 13 (Rs. 1,23,100), and to Joint Secretary and equivalent at Level 14 (Rs. 1,44,200). The senior posts above Deputy Secretary in a ministry are filled partly through the central staffing scheme and empanelment, so the climb is not automatic. Where regular promotion is slow, the Modified Assured Career Progression scheme grants a financial upgradation after 10, 20 and 30 years of service. Each promotion re-fixes the basic pay in a higher level under pay fixation on promotion.

Recruitment and eligibility

The Under Secretary grade is filled by promotion, not from the open market. A Section Officer is promoted to Under Secretary on completing the requisite approved service in the Section Officer grade, on a seniority-cum-fitness basis under the Central Secretariat Service Rules. There is no direct recruitment to the grade; it is a promotion post within the service, and it is the first point at which a Central Secretariat Service officer becomes a Group A gazetted officer.

The job profile is that of a first-level officer. An Under Secretary heads a branch, which is two or more sections, supervises the Section Officers and their sections, takes decisions on files within the powers delegated to the grade, and submits the larger cases to the Deputy Secretary. It is the rung at which the file work of the Assistant Section Officers and Section Officers below is turned into officer-level decisions.

Related Articles

• Section Officer (SO) salary
• Assistant Section Officer (ASO) salary
• Deputy Secretary salary
• Director salary
• Central Secretariat Service
• IAS salary
• Pay matrix
• Salary by pay level
• 7th Central Pay Commission
• 8th Central Pay Commission
• CCS (Revised Pay) Rules, 2016
• Basic pay
• Annual increment
• Minimum pay
• Pay fixation on promotion
• Dearness allowance
• House rent allowance
• City classification for HRA
• Transport allowance
• Children education allowance
• Allowances for central government employees
• Take-home salary for central government employees
• Income tax for government employees
• Section 87A rebate
• National Pension System
• Unified Pension Scheme
• Central Government Health Scheme
• Central Government Employees Group Insurance Scheme
• Modified Assured Career Progression
• Central government employees in India
• 7th CPC salary calculator
• Salary by pay level calculator

External references

• Department of Personnel and Training
• Department of Expenditure
• Union Public Service Commission

References

1. CCS (Revised Pay) Rules, 2016 (G.S.R. 721(E), dated 25 July 2016), pay matrix Level 11 (entry pay Rs. 67,700, top cell Rs. 2,08,700), Level 12 (Rs. 78,800), Level 13 (Rs. 1,23,100) and Level 14 (Rs. 1,44,200).
2. Department of Personnel and Training, Central Secretariat Service Rules, 2009 (the Under Secretary grade, its Group A gazetted status, and promotion of Section Officers with the requisite approved service).
3. Department of Expenditure Office Memorandum on dearness allowance (60% with effect from 1 January 2026).
4. Department of Expenditure Office Memorandum No. 2/5/2017-E.II(B) dated 7 July 2017 (house rent allowance rates and city classification), and the order restoring 30%, 20% and 10% once dearness allowance crossed 50%.
5. Department of Expenditure Office Memorandum No. 21/5/2017-E.II(B) dated 7 July 2017 (transport allowance, Rs. 7,200 for Levels 9 and above in higher-transport-allowance cities and Rs. 3,600 elsewhere).
6. Income-tax Act, 1961, new-regime slabs as amended by the Finance Act 2025 (standard deduction Rs. 75,000, Section 87A rebate up to Rs. 12 lakh, and 4% cess), applied for the financial year 2026-27.