Today environmental engineers have come to play an important role by being the custodians of the environment. In the last few years, India has witnessed tremendous economics growth but it has also brought in pollution of air , water, sound and soil. Though large scale economic development has created opportunities for millions of people, the debate at present and in recent past has veered around sustainable development - development of the present generation without compromising the development of the future generation, so that the degeneration of natural resources can be checked.

The environmental engineering branch in IIT's New Delhi, Kanpur, Kharagpur and Chennai offer programmes at the M.Tech level, but only for those who are B.Tech in Civil Engineering. Moreover, students at the M.Tech programmes are admitted through Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE). Also, the IIT-Mumbai offers programmes in Environmental Engineering through a separate department called Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering. However, most of the engineering colleges in the country do offer undergraduate programmes in environmental engineering.

Not only this, there are possibilities of students going for Master of Science and even Ph.D. programmes in environmental engineering in the US and European Universities.

The graduates and the post-graduates in environment engineering have a host of opporrtunities in the fields of effluent treatment plant, environment management planning and public sector undertakings.

The Environment Engineers get recruited in Central Pollution Control Board and State Pollution Control Boards as analysts. Starting an environment consultancy is another very lucrative proposition. Normally, environmental engineers begin with a salary of around Rs.10,000 to Rs.12,000 in public sector organisations but it could be on the higher side if you join in the private sector. For people starting their own consultancy firm, the incomes may vary from a few thousands to lakhs of rupees per month depending upon the networking and hardwork they are able to put in. Moreover, consultancy firms in foreign countries also recruit environment related projects which are very lucrative.