₹5 lakh PA vs ₹36 lakh at 22: Nikhil Kamath’s call center salary stuns Ruchir Sharma

While Ruchir Sharma was earning ₹36.5 lakh a year at 22, Nikhil Kamath was making just ₹5.4 lakh — working phones at a Bengaluru call center. The revelation came during a candid podcast where two of India’s top finance minds shared how differently their careers began.

Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath recalled his early 2000s job at a company called 24 bar 7, where he earned about ₹1,000 a month — or ₹12,000 a year — before eventually rising to a ₹5.4 lakh annual income.

“Five years after that, I was earning $1,000 a month,” Kamath told Ruchir Sharma, who reacted with genuine surprise: “You started in the call center world? Fascinating!”

Sharma, who now runs Rockefeller International, shared that in 1996, Morgan Stanley offered him a $100,000 package — worth about ₹36.5 lakh annually at the time — to join their global macro analysis team in India, with a New York relocation in the pipeline. “I was all set to pursue a PhD,” Sharma said. “But they asked me, ‘Do you want to study or make money?’ I chose money.”

The side-by-side career origin stories offered more than just contrast — they framed the divergent paths that led both men to the top of India’s financial world.

The duo also discussed the future of India’s economy. Sharma warned that unless deep structural reforms are carried out, growth is unlikely to exceed 6% annually. He argued that the next wave of serious wealth won’t come from IT or finance — but from manufacturing.

“The rise in billionaires from the manufacturing sector is no accident,” Sharma said. “If India stays open and globally competitive, this could be the country’s breakout sector.”