IES/ESE Officer: Salary & Career in the Engineering Services

The Engineering Services Examination (ESE), popularly called the IES exam, is UPSC's dedicated recruitment for Group A engineering officers of the Government of India. It is run by the same commission that conducts the Civil Services Examination, and its officers enter at the same pay level as an IAS probationer — but the exam, the eligibility and the day-to-day work are built for engineers. If you hold a B.E./B.Tech and want a technical career in government, this is your exam, not CSE.

How the ESE is structured

ESE is a three-stage examination with a combined merit of 1,300 marks. Unlike CSE, your Prelims score is not discarded — it is added to your final tally.

• Stage I — Preliminary (objective, 500 marks): Paper I, General Studies and Engineering Aptitude (200 marks, 2 hours), and Paper II, your engineering discipline (300 marks, 3 hours).
• Stage II — Mains (conventional/descriptive, 600 marks): two discipline papers of 300 marks each, 3 hours each.
• Stage III — Personality Test: 200 marks.

Who can appear

An engineering degree in one of four branches — Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, or Electronics & Telecommunication — is mandatory; you write the entire exam in that branch, so there is no separate "optional subject" decision. The age window is 21 to 30 years as on 1 January of the exam year, with standard relaxations (SC/ST +5, OBC +3, and others per rules). UPSC places no cap on the number of attempts — you may appear as often as the age limit allows.

Salary: Level 10 entry, then a long ladder

Selected candidates join as Assistant Executive Engineer or Assistant Director at Level 10 of the 7th CPC pay matrix — basic pay ₹56,100, the same entry level as an IAS officer. Dearness Allowance, HRA and Transport Allowance are paid on top, so gross salary varies with posting city. The climb thereafter:

As organised Group A services, the engineering cadres also benefit from Non-Functional Upgradation (NFU), which broadly links their pay progression to that of empanelled IAS batchmates. Note that the 8th Pay Commission has been announced; the figures above are 7th CPC values and revised scales are awaited.

Where you serve: services and work profile

Your service is allotted by rank, branch and preference. The big employers are:

• Indian Railways — Group A technical officers (now under the Indian Railway Management Service umbrella) are again recruited through ESE, per the September 2024 decision; they run rolling stock, traction, signalling and track infrastructure.
• CPWD — Central Engineering Service and Central Electrical & Mechanical Engineering Service: government buildings and public works.
• Water and power — Central Water Engineering Service (CWC) and Central Power Engineering Service (CEA).
• Roads and border infrastructure — Central Engineering Service (Roads), Border Roads Engineering Service.
• Telecom — Indian Telecommunication Service and allied radio/wireless posts.
• Defence engineering — Indian Defence Service of Engineers (Military Engineer Services) and Indian Naval Armament Service.

The work mixes field engineering with administration: planning and executing projects, tendering and contract management, inspections, and — at senior levels — policy work in ministries. Deputation to PSUs, regulators and international projects is common mid-career.

ESE vs CSE at a glance

Vacancy numbers move sharply year to year — the return of Railway posts lifted ESE 2025 and 2026 totals — so always verify the current notification on upsc.gov.in.

Who should choose ESE

Pick ESE if you enjoy your core branch and want to keep practising it: the syllabus is nearly all engineering, GATE preparation overlaps heavily, and the smaller, technical field rewards depth over breadth. Choose CSE only if generalist administration genuinely pulls you — preparing for both simultaneously stretches most candidates too thin.