Across India, students are increasingly taking up unpaid internships to gain “experience” before entering the job market. For some, these internships are necessary
for their study abroad applications, while for others its simply because many companies ask for experience even for an entry-level job. In India, these internships are usually seen as a foot in the door for getting entry into the workforce, because now a degree alone often no longer feels sufficient. Employers increasingly expect candidates to already possess workplace exposure, forcing many students into an uncomfortable choice: work for free in exchange for “experience” and “exposure.” The question, however, remains the same are unpaid internships genuine learning opportunities, or has “exposure” simply become another word for exploitation? Imagine this: a college students trying to make the most of her college break. Instead of spending her holidays relaxing, she spent her days running from one office assignment to another in Delhi’s scorching heat, just for an internship that did not pay her a single rupee. The only reward at the end of the day was often a casual “good job, see you tomorrow” from her bosses. Her experience is far from unique. According to a recent Internshala report, approximately 35 per cent of internships in India offer no stipend at all, with another 25 percent paying below Rs 3,000 per month. While this should be worrisome, what's even more concerning, many interns allege that they do not receive the stipends they were originally promised. In May 2025, a budding developer hit the third year of his degree and posted a now-famous Reddit post in "Free Work Culture in India | Why is it so Hard to Pay for Work? He applied for a remote internship for a Flutter developer position, and the company promised a stipend of ₹8,000 -10,000 a month. The company gave him a technical task. He was required to complete the task in 2 days. He executed the task to the best of his ability. When he asked, rather curtly, if he would get the stipend, he was cut off. He was ghosted. No pay. No certificate. No answer. A marketing student from Mumbai completed a three-month internship at a digital agency where the student was both the live campaign and the student was allocated to influencer marketing. Other students at the agency were interns, and the marketing student achieved the advertised results for the business. The student interned at the digital agency, and all the student received was a generic certificate for the internship and a thank-you email. However, the student was promised a stipend to pay the intern while the digital agency was the marketing student's employer. Many interns today handle responsibilities similar to full-time employees, including client management, social media operations, report writing, and revenue-generating work, often without financial compensation. Experts warn that such experiences can leave youngsters exhausted even before they formally enter the workforce. “I know very talented youngsters who felt taken advantage of before even becoming full-time employees,” shared Shreya, a Mumbai-based media professional. “A youngster in my team worked diligently for two months but was denied his promised stipend simply because he took leave during the internship. Eventually, he left the media industry altogether and joined his family business.” According to Gaurav Bhagat, Founder of the Gaurav Bhagat Academy, the problem is worsened by the absence of clear legal protections for interns. "While there are stipends given to apprentices under the 1961 Apprenticeship Act, interns are unpaid and not considered under the minimum wages act, factories act, or most protections. This leaves open a great deal of potential exploitation," he opined. However, employers believe that unpaid internships are offered because the company invests in the right talent and trains them for the job market. "We hire unpaid interns but we also put in efforts to train them completely for the job market. This includes not just training them, but also ensuring that we assist them in unlearning and learning as per the industry demands. In a way, we train them from the foundation level, and then hire them full-time once they are ready to enter the job market. We are investing in future workforce," explained a Delhi employer. "Also, if we pay an intern, invest in training him/her, then we lose in every sense. So, we have to balance it out in some way." For many students, though, the issue is not just financial but also emotional. “I worked at a company for three months and was known only as ‘that intern’,” said Roshni, a college student from Delhi who interned at a content startup. “The seniors expected me to work overtime every day in the name of ‘learning the ropes’. When I refused to travel from Rohini to Dwarka for an assignment because I could not afford the travel expenses, they belittled me for saying no.” Experts say such environments can have a long-term psychological impact on young workers. “Working for free can deeply affect a person’s sense of self-worth,” Bhagat said. “Many young people fear that rejecting exploitative work conditions will make them appear unambitious or damage future opportunities. Over time, this normalises overwork without compensation and creates a culture of silence.” However, experts also acknowledge that not every unpaid internship is inherently exploitative. "nternships where there is strong mentorship, even temporarily, and largely observant, offered by leading firms, can be very rewarding. They can provide portfolio pieces, contacts within the industry, and even lead to the position being converted to a paid internship. Leading startups, including Google, have paid internships that are top-tier and have a high rate of conversions to full-time positions. These top-tier internships even have an average monthly stipend of between ₹20,000 and ₹1,00,000," shared Bhagat. As India’s competition for jobs continues to intensify, internships are increasingly becoming a necessity rather than a choice for students. The challenge now is ensuring that the pursuit of experience does not come at the cost of dignity, health, or fair treatment.
