The Biggest Problem in Indian Hiring: Your Value = Your Last CTC?

I’m genuinely struggling to understand why many HR teams are still anchored to previous CTC when calculating offers, instead of evaluating skills, experience, and market alignment.

I started my career at 4.5 LPA, and due to project dependencies and limited increments, my CTC didn’t grow as expected even after 3 years. Now, when HRs ask for my CTC/ECTC, I quote a number based on my actual value, not my outdated salary history.

One HR literally said: “We can’t offer more than 50% of your current CTC.”

Another one closed my candidature entirely even after I revised my expectation from 8.5 LPA to 7.5 LPA, and submitted all documents. It felt like I was penalized for the salary I started with, not the capabilities I have now.

Why is the industry still so obsessed with anchoring offers to previous pay instead of evaluating:

Skills, Experience, Project exposure, Market standards, Actual contribution potential.

For those working in Hyderabad/Bangalore, how do you navigate this? How do you convince HRs to align compensation with your current skill value instead of your past CTC? Would appreciate insights from hiring managers, HRs, and candidates who faced similar situations.