NEW DELHI: India Inc is set to witness an average salary increase of around 10.3% this year, with sectors such as e-commerce, life sciences and media receiving maximum hikes , revealed a survey.E-commerce companies and startups will offer the highest projected salary hike of 15.6%, followed by life sciences at 11.6% and media at 11.2%, said the Aon Hewitt study that analyzed data across 700 companies.In contrast, sectors such as telecom services, metals and financial institutions are set to offer the lowest projected salary hikes of 9.8%, 9.3% and 8.8% respectively."With this year's numbers we are seeing a confirmation of our view that Indian companies are taking very clear steps to arrest the steady increase in compensation budgets," said Anandorup Ghose, partner at Aon Hewitt India. "The lower inflation rates in the economy have also helped companies in deciding on the reduced salary increases without creating too much of a disruption in the lives of employees."Companies across industries continue to take a cautious stance and are not going for aggressive pay increases, said the survey. In many cases, industries have taken a marginal cut in their overall budgets as compared to 2015 actual spends.The survey also revealed a new trend of plateauing of 'double-digit' salary increases in India. For instance, 2007 and 2008 saw salary increases of 15.1% and 13.1%, while 2014 and 2015 witnessed hikes of 10.4% each. It is a sign of market maturity and a cautious approach to stay competitive in the APAC region.The attrition rate in the country is dropping. At 16.3%, it is the lowest that corporate India has observed since the 2008 global financial crisis. While attrition was controlled at a broader level, key talent attrition increased from 5.9% in 2014 to 7.3% in 2015.Organizations are increasingly developing separate retention plans and policies for their top talent. While rewards continue as a retention tool to ring-fence top talent, programmes around leadership opportunities and coaching, overseas assignments are fast gaining prominence, said the survey.