New Delhi, May 16 (IANS): The average stipend pay outs witnessed a 2 per cent marginal increase in India in FY23 compared to the previous fiscal, and top-paying cities were Chennai (Rs 13,100 per month) and Kochi (Rs 13,000 per month) on average, a report showed on Tuesday.

These cities were followed by Bengaluru and Coimbatore, both offering Rs 12,900 per month on average as apprentice stipend.

Additionally, Nagpur and Lucknow saw a 9 per cent increase in stipends, while Chandigarh had a 6 per cent increase and Delhi and Hyderabad each had a 5 per cent increase in stipend, according to a TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship report.

"Incidentally, stipend growth in India has outperformed salary growth in many industries, with many industries paying higher than the minimum notified stipends," said Sumit Kumar, Chief Business Officer, TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship.

Employers are willing to pay higher stipends than industry mandates as they see the value of investing in apprentices to bridge the skill crisis and create a sustainable talent supply chain, he added.

While the overall percentage increase has been a marginal spike, the findings highlighted a significant variation in stipend pay-outs across industries, cities and educational qualifications.

Jobs roles with highest stipends are agriculture field officer (Rs 15,200 per month), retail sales (Rs 13,800 per month) and HR (Rs 13,600 per month).

Agriculture and agrochemicals, with current stipend of Rs 14,000 witnessed a 12 per cent growth.

In the services sector, 11 out of 13 industries provided a higher stipend in the fiscal. The top industries included media and entertainment (18 per cent), Services including repair and maintenance (11 per cent), education (9 per cent), life science (8 per cent) and e-commerce and tech products (8 per cent).

However, despite the technology boom and the advent of 5G, telecommunication (-4 per cent) and IT/ITeS (-2 per cent) saw a dip in the fiscal, the report noted.