CFA® Program and FRM® Exam in India: INR cost, centres, jobs

From India, Level I of the CFA® Program costs US$1,140 (check the official website) with early registration for 2027 – about ₹1,08,607 (1.09 lakh) at the ECB reference rate of 29 October 2026 – and Part I of the FRM® Exam with the one-time enrolment fee about ₹95,269. Neither exam replaces the SEBI registration and NISM certification that research analysts need. (ECB, euro reference rates of 29 October 2026) (SEBI, Research Analysts Regulations)

If you are a student or early in your career in India, these exams are a large outlay in rupees. It is worth knowing exactly what you pay, where you will sit the exam, and which rules apply to the jobs you are aiming for, before you register. This page covers each with a dated source and leaves out what we cannot source, including salary figures.

What do the exams cost in rupees?

CFA Institute and GARP charge in US dollars. You pay by card, and your bank converts at its own rate, usually with a foreign-currency markup and possibly further charges, so the amount on your statement will differ from the table. The table converts the 2027 fees at the ECB reference rate of 29 October 2026, rounded to whole rupees. (ECB, euro reference rates of 29 October 2026)

In lakh: Level I with standard registration is about 1.42 lakh, and with one retake at the early fee about 2.17 lakh – a retake costs the full registration fee again, with no discount for retakers (check the official website). Both parts of the FRM® Exam with early registration come to about 1.52 lakh. Study materials, a financial calculator, travel to the test centre and any tax are not in the table. To try your own choices in rupees, use the Level I cost calculator or the FRM® Exam cost calculator and pick the Indian rupee; you can also type in the rate your bank quotes.

Who may register: for Level I, a bachelor’s degree, being within 23 months of completing one, or 4,000 hours of work experience and/or higher education over at least 36 months (check the official website), so students in the final years of a bachelor’s degree can register. For Part I of the FRM® Exam, no formal educational or work-experience prerequisites – anyone may register for Part I (check the official website).

Where can you sit the exams in India?

Both exams are taken on a computer at a test centre. Registering and booking a seat are separate steps: you schedule your appointment after you register, and each window has its own deadline – for May 2027, 16 February 2027 (check the official website) for Level I and 23 April 2027 (check the official website) for Part I.

For the CFA® Program, a list published by an Indian education company in October 2026 names about 30 cities, among them Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune; it warns that a city on the list does not mean a seat in a given window and that the scheduling system shows what is actually available. (Physics Wallah, test centres in India (secondary source)) For the FRM® Exam we found no reliable list of Indian cities that we could cite, so check the centres on GARP’s website and in the scheduling system when you book. In both cases, book early if you want a centre in a large city, and add travel and a night’s stay to your budget if the nearest centre is far away.

What does SEBI require for research jobs?

If the job you want involves research on Indian listed securities – research reports, buy or sell recommendations, price targets or model portfolios – the SEBI (Research Analysts) Regulations, 2014 apply. No one may act as a research analyst without SEBI registration, though staff of a registered research analyst are covered through their employer as long as they meet the qualification rules. (SEBI, Research Analysts Regulations)

Regulation 7, as amended up to 10 October 2026, asks every individual research analyst, principal officer, employed research analyst and person associated with research services to have, at all times, either: (SEBI, Research Analysts Regulations)

• a graduate degree or equivalent from a university or institution accepted by the central or a state government in India, or from an accepted foreign university or institution – or a charter from CFA Institute instead, as a CFA® charterholder – and a relevant certification from NISM or from another institution that NISM has authorised; or
• NISM’s Post Graduate Program in the Securities Market (Research Analysis).

The NISM certification has to be renewed before it expires, or within three years of registration. NISM’s exam for research analysts is the NISM-Series-XV Research Analyst Certification Examination. (NISM, research analyst certification) “Persons associated with research services” include client-facing staff such as analysts, sales staff and relationship managers. Registering as an individual research analyst costs ₹2,000 with the application and ₹3,000 on registration, then ₹1,000 every five years; for a company the amounts are ₹20,000, ₹30,000 and ₹5,000. (SEBI, Research Analysts Regulations)

What this means in practice: passing Level I does not change your SEBI position. If you have a degree, the degree already meets the education part; what you need on top is the NISM certification. The charter matters here only as an alternative to a degree, and only once you hold it. This page is not legal advice; your employer’s compliance team will tell you which certification your role needs.

What first jobs do the exams lead to?

We do not publish salary figures for India. We found no government statistic for these occupations that we could cite at the level of detail of the UK and US data on our other pages, and survey or recruiter figures depend on who answered them. Instead, here is what to look at when you weigh a first role or offer:

• The work itself. Research on Indian listed companies falls under the SEBI rules above; credit and risk teams at banks and NBFCs are closer to the FRM® Exam; analysis of companies and portfolios is closer to the CFA® Program.
• Fixed and variable pay. Ask how the cost to company (CTC) splits into fixed pay, variable pay and employer contributions, and what reaches your account each month.
• Exam support. Ask whether the employer pays the exam fees, the NISM certification and retakes, and whether you get leave before the exam window.
• Client contact. If the role faces clients in research services, the NISM certification is a condition of the job, not an extra – plan for it in your first months.

If you are choosing between the two exams, the Level I vs Part I comparison sets out the differences in difficulty, hours and cost, and the study-time calculator shows whether the hours fit around college or a job.

What does this mean for you?

1. Budget in rupees with the table, then add your bank’s markup, materials and any travel to the test centre.
2. Check the scheduling deadline of your window as soon as you register, and book a seat in the city you want early.
3. If you aim for research on Indian listed securities, plan the NISM certification as well as the exam.
4. Ask any employer what it pays for before you pay yourself.
5. Keep the dollar fee and the exam body’s own page in view: fees and rates both change.

What are the common mistakes?

• Budgeting at the reference rate and being surprised by the bank’s markup on a card payment in dollars.
• Registering, then finding no seat left in your city because the appointment was booked late.
• Assuming Level I or the FRM® Exam replaces the NISM certification for research roles.
• Comparing offers by the CTC headline instead of fixed monthly pay.
• Taking salary claims from adverts or surveys at face value without knowing who answered.

What does this page cover?

Last updated

30 October 2026

Based on

• CFA Institute and GARP fees, deadlines and entry rules from our fact register, linked to their own pages for checking
• ECB euro reference rates of 29 October 2026
• SEBI (Research Analysts) Regulations, 2014, amended up to 10 October 2026; NISM’s certification page
• A dated list of test centre cities for the CFA® Program (secondary source)

Includes

• Exam fees in rupees and lakh, test centres and scheduling, SEBI and NISM rules for research roles, what to check in a first offer

Not included

• Salary figures, taxes and bank charges, and how many candidates pass
• This is not legal, financial or careers advice

High Performer Certs is an independent study platform. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by CFA Institute or the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP). We are not a CFA Institute Prep Provider and not a GARP Exam Preparation Provider. CFA Institute does not endorse, promote, review or warrant the accuracy or quality of our products and services. GARP does not endorse, promote, review or warrant the accuracy of our products or services. All questions and explanations are our own original material and contain no CFA Institute or GARP exam, curriculum or practice questions. CFA®, Chartered Financial Analyst®, CIPM® and GIPS® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute. FRM® and GARP® are trademarks owned by the Global Association of Risk Professionals.