Route to Tier 1 Law Firms?

Anyone here who have cracked the Tier-1,2,3 route and can share his experience?

I am currently working as a Law Associate at a boutique law firm in Delhi. I joined the firm about 1.5 years ago, after having gained 6 months of prior experience in a chamber practice. Since then, most of the senior associates who were at the firm when I joined have now left and I now handle the firm’s major cases along with a junior associate. There are associates who have more experience than me but the managing partner prefers to work with me on major NCLT matters. I get to appear and argue before the NCLT and DHC on regular basis.

However, despite my level of responsibility and knowledge, my current CTC remains in the single digit. Heck, its barely more than ₹5 LPA. This is disheartening, especially when I see fresh graduates from NLUs and Jindal securing double-digit packages right at the start of their careers.

With approximately 2 years of experience under my belt, I am currently handling around 180 civil, commercial, and consumer cases for one of the three largest telecom companies in India. In addition to that, I’ve argued various IAs on behalf of resolution professionals, homebuyers, and operational creditors before NCLT. I have sent my resume in nearly every Tier 1 and 2 law firm in Delhi including Khaitan, SAM, CAM etc. But I am not getting any callbacks from any Tier 1 Law firm. At this point in my career I am starting to lose hope. One of my friends told me they only hire aomeone if they have partner references.

Anyone here who have cracked the Tier-1,2,3 route and can share his/her experience?