Well, if you're not in a tier 1 city and are living in your own house with your family, the expenses come down a lot. Moreover, if you're family is self-sustaining/rich, you'll find that you're living an extremely good life. In T1 cities everything burns money. Be it outings, dates, rent etc. Hence, when you take into account everything, in T1s, many people end up saving very less. Hence the difference of 10LPA is not correct when you take into account the totality of things. There are great T2/T3 cities in India, where the cost of living is laughably minimal, relative to what it costs in a T1. Hence, if there's WLB, then I would happily opt for the 4LPA job for now, provided there's scope for growth. The scope could include various factors like how much are you getting upskilled and how great is the salary offered to the higher-ups etc. Life is not all about money. Satisfaction plays a key role. As does fitness WLB. Hope the OP takes a calculated call on this one and not simply go after the money, in turn sacrificing Mental & Physical well-being, Family Time and Long Drives (btw T1 traffic sucks!).

OP, you should have mentioned your home city and the firm+team+city you got the offer from.

Short Answer - Leverage the T1 offer with your current firm, and understand how your pay will grow. Not worth switching to another firm, what you save > what you earn.

Long Answer - my advice is contrary to what most people will say. But here's my take. The very objective for working in a T1 usually revolves around career growth and money.

Firstly, it is a false opinion that one cannot have a successful career unless it is a T1 firm. Sure, the virtue signalling is obvious; having a T1 on one's CV makes one much more employable in the long run. But even then, my personal observation has been that not all teams are alike, and there's a HUGE difference within firms. And even in good teams, the work is pretty clerical. People were managing WFH well in most non-lit teams, even then firms want people back in office to justify billables. So a top firm does not equal forward thinking, it can be the opposite too.

Second is the money. Ask yourself - How much do you earn, versus how much do you save? Upon deep introspection, when you are working in a T1, especially in a big city, savings are difficult. Rent, food and travel take up a lot of money and time. Moreover, the quality of food can also never as good as home cooked food. Health does take a hit. People in their 30s staring at serious ailments, which means more money drained. Work-Life balance is known to be quite terrible. And if you work out your actual hours worked (which can be close to 100 hours in a week) and your monthly take-home, the math might be almost equal to your current gig.

I asked a friend working in a T1 (makes about 1.3 Lacs per month) what they do with the money. The answer was that they spend it on staycations, trips to Goa, or the latest headphones/gadgets. Personally, I found the answer to be quite unsatisfactory. But in cities like Bombay or Delhi, investing in sports/leisure is way too expensive, almost inaccessible.

Best idea is to invest about 90% of your current salary in the broad market. Save like hell. Today you make lesser, but 10 years down the line, you will be in a better financial position than your T1 peers. Mutual Funds, SIPs, actual stocks, bonds - this is the stuff that you can learn and leverage.

Ask yourself if you would prefer to be with your family, and it is perfectly brilliant if you choose that, ignore the capitalist kids here. Speak to your parents. Ask them is the lower earning+high investment plan sounds good.
Thirdly, assess the present job, and tell your employer that you have a better offer, but you would prefer to grow in your present role (other LI members can comment on whether this strategy is logical or not). Take up a side hustle, remotely, but be cautious. And invest in your health heavily - habits now ensure longetivity tomorrow.

Disclosure - I make as much as OP. Am working in a city I was born and raised in. 5 day week.
And I get to go home for a lunch and a nap. I love it, touchwood.

There's no right answer - it's really pegged to your goals.

Working at a larger firm will fetch you more money and therefore is better for your financial security in the long run. Plus it's always open to you to switch to a smaller firm after a few years with some savings. It could even help you negotiate better money from the smaller firm later.

Plus the exposure you get at a larger firm tends to be better unless you work for specialized and well regarded boutiques.

But if money isn't a concern - both in the short term and the long term, then you can take that out as a factor for your choice.

For exposure as well, not everyone is ambitious and that's fine. Working can be stressful, people are difficult in high stakes environments because they're stressed themselves and you may not really enjoy the work at all.

Working in larger firms is difficult on mental and physical health too - the sheer hours that you spend take away a lot from you. Lack of sleep, lack of exercise is common. And many tend to indulge in junk food, smoking or just consumerism to deal with stress.

Neither is all good and bad - you could take a lower paying job and make fabulous savings and investments. You could take a higher paying job and be successful in putting boundaries and be careful with your health.

So really, it's up to you. You still have a few years to try it out and decide.

Hello everyone.
Thank you for your responses. I will just update you guys with what has transpired since the time I put this post up.

Firstly, I am from Mumbai. I am currently working at a small Mumbai based law firm. The above- mentioned amount (4 Lakh p.a.) is what I draw working with the firm currently. I am an A0, working in the corporate department/ with the corporate team of said firm.

The T-1 firm that I had an offer from, rescinded it saying they are on a hiring freeze, and hence will not be able to take me on as an Associate at the moment, but would offer me a three- month assessment internship till then, where if I do well at the end of it, I may be taken on as an a full- time employee.

This was not acceptable to me, and hence I have decided to continue at my current Firm. I will see what happens ahead, but will currently be staying put where I am. The work- life balance and team seems to be decent and my Partner and MP seem to be decent as well.

I do not have any other job offers or any other opportunities available currently in my hand. So I guess leaving something as sure as this, would not be a wise decision on my part.

Do you guys still think I am still making the correct decision? If not, then what would you guys do differently/ what would you recommend I do?