NEW DELHI: India Inc will offer an average salary hike of 9.1% to employees this year, which is marginally less than last year, according to a survey.While senior executives at HR consultancy firm Aon said the dip is a sign of a maturing economy and indicative of a slowdown, the survey showed that double-digit salary hikes are not history with 39% of organisations projecting a salary increase of over 10%.“Despite economic challenges in 2019, organisations in India are taking a positive view. Pay increases in India continue to be the highest in the region. A big reason for India’s higher salary increase, as compared to other growing economies, is the high inflation rate and the war for key talent and niche skills,” said Tzeitel Fernandes, partner (rewards solutions) at Aon.Companies in India gave an average pay increase of 9.3% during 2019, reflecting a slowdown in the economy, compared to 2018. While one of the hardest hit is the automotive manufacturing industry which reported the biggest drop, from 10.1% in 2018 to 8.3% for 2020, other sectors that will be doling out the lowest pay hikes are logistics, infrastructure and hospitality.E-commerce, pharma, FMCG, IT and professional services are expected to be the most generous with the highest hikes, according to the survey which took into account feedback from around 1,000 companies across 20 sectors.In comparison, average hikes in countries such as China (6.3%), Japan (2.4%), Malaysia (5.3%), Singapore (3.8%) and Australia (3.1%) are expected to be much lower. “The trend of a dip in salary hikes in India shows that the market is maturing. We will not see heady double-digit salary hikes in the future,” said a senior executive at the company.“We see a reduction in the differences between pay increases across industries, with 85% of the organisations projecting 7-11%. However, the premium for high performance and new age skills continues to rise,” said Navneet Rattan, director (organisation, performance & rewards), Aon India.