Chemical Engineering Career Scope: Jobs, Placements, Salary 2023, Top Recruiters/Companies

The chemical industry established in India ranks fifth in the world in terms of the revenue generated and employment created. This sector is one of the most diversified of all, producing more than 70 thousand different products across multiple sectors such as pharmaceuticals, fast-moving consumer goods, oil and natural gas, petrochemicals and so on. This industry is the backbone of Indian economy which constitutes one of the eight core industries in Indian economy. The importance of this discipline is reflected from the fact that this industry finds application across other industries and branches of engineering and science. Chemical Engineering in undergraduate or postgraduate level is one of the most sought-after programmes in Engineering. This course is offered by every engineering institute across various levels such as diploma, undergraduate, postgraduate and doctorate levels.

Why choose Chemical Engineering?

Chemical Engineering is a lucrative career option, with extensive job opportunities available across various sectors of the economy. Candidates who wish to establish a career as a Chemical Engineer in domains such as Petrochemicals or Pharmaceuticals Industry can choose this course. To work in top private companies or public sector undertaking, candidates must possess BTech in Chemical Engineering from a recognised university. Many recruitment processes seek candidates with at least 1-3 years of experience in the relevant field.

One of the major outcomes of this course is to equip learners with the knowledge of various sub-disciplines such as science, engineering and mathematics in order to solve complex engineering problems. Other outcomes of this course includes:

• Formulate and review important research literature and identify complex engineering problems and suggest solutions by applying principles of natural and engineering sciences.
• Suggest and design processes implementing chemical engineering fundamentals to solve biotechnological problems and health issues.
• Apply research methods and skills to interpret data and reach to valid conclusions.
• Assess health, legal, safety issues and suggest measures in order to maintain ethical standards in chemical industry.
• Encourage innovation amongst learners and promote scientific temperament and research skills, therefore contributing to research organisations and chemical industries.

Top Careers in Chemical Engineering

The Indian chemical industry is highly diversified with South Asian countries being one of the largest producers of a variety of chemicals in the world. India alone had produced around 29 million metric tons of petrochemicals and exported across neighbouring countries. The fertiliser sales were of over 190 billion rupees in the Fiscal Year 2022 indicating vast career opportunities in this field. The demand of chemical engineering graduates is growing with the rising chemical industry and allied markets. Graduates after completing Chemical Engineering can work across various branches of engineering such as nanotechnology, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, minerals refining and processing, biotechnology etc.

Candidates can work in either of the below-mentioned job profiles:

• Chemical Engineer: Chemical Engineers are responsible for the processing and manufacturing of various chemicals and materials which are applied and utilised across other industries. They also research on innovative materials and suggest new techniques for production of chemicals. They are hired across various industries for the production and research activities. They are also responsible for supervising assistant engineers and ensure compliance of safety standards in the industry.
• Petroleum Engineer: Petroleum Engineers either possess BTech in Chemical Engineering or specialisation based MTech in Petroleum Engineering. They are hired across oil-fields, refineries, extraction-wells for developing and executing oil-drilling and gas-extracting projects. They suggest novel drilling techniques and supervise the overall extraction process. They are responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the oil-wells and other sites and repair equipment on a timely basis.
• Nuclear Engineer: Nuclear Engineers are hired across nuclear power plants and other research organisations and they deal with research and development of nuclear energy. They understand the science behind nuclear reactions and therefore suggest mitigating measures and effective methods for harnessing energy from nucleus of an atom. They ensure compliance of safety standards and safety of nuclear facility. Chemical engineers along with nuclear engineers run the nuclear facility and improve existing methods of harnessing energy.
• Mining Engineer: Mining Engineers are responsible for the effective extraction of minerals and other natural resources stored underground. They look after the extraction operations and mineral extraction procedure and work along with chemical engineers in analysing the quality and grade of extracted minerals. They must possess knowledge on managing excavation sites and mitigate impact of mining activities on local surrounding.
• Food Scientist: Food industry is one of the most important fields where chemical engineers are recruited. They are responsible for enriching the nutrient value of food, texture, flavour and increasing their shelf-life. They suggest novel methods to enrich food with special properties and cater to the nutritional challenges in a society. They also analyse whether food production meets safety and quality standards.
• Environmental Engineer: An environmental engineer suggests solutions to environmental problems such as pollution, landslides, waste management, sustainable lifestyle. They combine the knowledge of biology, chemistry and physics to understand challenges and suggest measures for mitigating environmental damage.
• Quality Engineer: Quality Engineers are responsible for ensuring whether a particular chemical industry adopts ethical standards during various stages of production. He ensures compliance of safety and quality protocols in an industry. He also works as consultant by assessing and supervising various components of a chemical plant and ensures compliance of government rules and regulations.

Career Scope after Chemical Engineering

Chemical Engineering provides wide range of opportunities for career transition and growth. Many top private and government companies recruit chemical engineers for production of chemicals and maintenance of chemical plants. It is one of the most popular branches of engineering offered across engineering colleges in India. As per the preference of candidates, they can choose either office jobs or on-field jobs.

• After completing undergraduate programme, candidates can opt for placement opportunities from their colleges and start working across private organisations in the field of pharmaceuticals, fertilisers, petrochemicals etc.
• They can also pursue MTech either straight after BTech or after gaining work experience of few years. They can pursue MTech in Chemical Engineering or any other specialisation such as Petroleum Engineering, Pollution Control Engineering, Materials Engineering, Biomedical Chemical Engineering etc.
• They can also pursue PhD in Chemical Engineering or any other related specialisation in order to enter the field of academics or research. They can start working as Assistant Professors across engineering colleges or Associate Researchers in various organisations related to petrochemical or pharmaceutical research and development.
• They can also pursue MBA in order to venture into managerial posts across industries or other private organisations. They must prepare of management entrance exams such as CAT, MAT, XAT etc in order to secure admission across top management colleges.

Also Read:

• Top Chemical Engineering Entrance Exams
• Top MBA Entrance Exams

Chemical Engineering Scope in India

Chemical Engineering graduates are hired across various industries owing to large production and export demands. The chemical industry in India is currently booming, with larger share occupied by food products, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and fertilisers. This makes Chemical Engineering an excellent career option for engineering aspirants. There are various job opportunities provided by private and government organisations. The following core industries, namely Petrochemicals, Cement, Natural Gas, Fertilisers, Refinery Products, Crude oil hire chemical engineering graduates.

• Petrochemicals: Petroleum Engineers and Chemical Engineers are hired across petrochemical industries such as Reliance, Schlumberger etc. for extraction and refining petrochemical products. It hires researchers and professionals in order to conduct research and suggest improved production and refining process.
• Energy Sector: Energy sector concerns itself with production of energy from natural resources such as Natural Gas and Coal. Chemical engineering graduates deal with production of alternative sources of energy and suggest innovative methods for addressing energy crisis. They
• Manufacturing: Chemical engineering also deals with large-scale manufacturing of fuels, chemicals, food products, fast-moving consumer goods etc. It applies principles of advanced manufacturing and utilise additive manufacturing process such as 3D printing method in order to manufacture products in large scale.
• Fertilisers Industry: Graduates are hired across various fertilisers and pesticides production plants in various job profiles such as research and development, process engineering, production units, safety and quality assurance or managerial roles of marketing, sales and human resources.
• Food Science: Graduates are hired across various food industries and downstream or upstream industries for various processes such as addition of food additives and preservatives, fuel utilisation, freezing systems, frozen food production, microwave heating, fermentation and pickling, storage and canning etc.
• Academics and Research: Graduates can also enter into the field of academics by pursuing higher studies in the field of Chemical Engineering. They can pursue MTech or PhD in the field of Chemical Engineering. They must seek research projects and pursue doctoral or post-doctoral programmes in order to make a career in research organisations. They can also join any reputed college or institution as faculty and contribute to the field of academics.

Average Salary Based in Job Positions

The salaries offered by various recruiters to Chemical Engineering graduates depends on a lot of factors such as market growth, market demand and company's value in the market. The salaries offered to junior level or new entrants indicate the growing popularity and market value of this industry. Major employers in Public Sector offer more salary as compared to private organisations but hire graduates with greater professional experience. 

The average salary offered at various job positions in the field of Chemical Engineering are given in the table as follows:

Top Recruiters for Chemical Engineering Graduates

Top Recruiters for Chemical Engineering graduates include private organisations or medium and large scale industries which function at a large scale and have their campuses spread across multiple cities. Many top recruiters are recruiting candidates either directly from the campus placements or hire candidates on the basis of an open recruitment process. 

There are major 10 industries which hire chemical engineering graduates across various domains and job profiles. The major industries include:

Some of the employers in these major industries are as follows:

Top Colleges for Chemical Engineering as per NIRF rankings

There are more than 550 colleges in India offering Chemical Engineering courses, which consists of 58% private engineering colleges, 40% government colleges and rest includes private-public colleges. These colleges offer various courses in Chemical Engineering such as BTech in Chemical Engineering, MTech in Chemical Engineering and other diploma and doctoral programmes in Chemical Engineering.

The following table gives an insight into the top Chemical Engineering colleges as per the NIRF rankings and their annual placement package:

Also Read:

• Top Government Colleges for Chemical Engineering
• Top Private Colleges for Chemical Engineering

How to get a job after Chemical Engineering?

Career in Chemical Engineering provides wide range of job opportunities and benefits but selecting the right career choice is the most daunting task for any graduate. Not only should he meet all educational qualifications, but he must also exhibit the relevant skills needed for concerned industry.

• Chemical Engineers must demonstrate IT and numeracy skills, problem-solving skills and Ability to work under immense pressure. Similarly Energy and Petroleum Engineers must be able to exhibit leadership and organisational skills in order to establish a promising career in managerial roles.
• Those who wish to enter into the field of academics must exhibit research and teaching skills and must be able to suggest novel techniques in the field of chemical engineering. They must be able to contribute to the research in this field and must be able to solve problems.
• One can also pursue MBA in order to learn business management skills in order to work in managerial roles across top private and public enterprises in the field of chemical engineering.

Top Indian Cities for lucrative jobs after completing Chemical Engineering

Most of the petroluem refineries and excavation sites are located far away from the metro citied but many managerial posts are offered across metro cites where major multinational companies are located. The compensation package for on-site and off-site jobs varies due to the factors such as Transportation, Housing Allowances, On-Site compensations etc.

The top cities for chemical engineering graduates and the average salary offered are given in the table as follows:

Read More:

• Chemical Engineering Syllabus
• MTech in Chemical Engineering Colleges