DA Hike Update – Central Govt Employees’ DA Hike, Expect 2% Increase, Know the Latest Update

DA Hike Update: The treasure trove is about to open for central employees and pensioners, as the Modi government is expected to make a major announcement soon. Employees’ dearness allowance (DA) could be increased by up to 2%, resulting in a salary increase. The DA hike will benefit over 10 million employees.

The DA hike is expected to be announced after Holi. While no announcement has been made regarding the date of the DA hike, media reports are claiming this. The implementation of the 8th Pay Commission may take some time. Meanwhile, the Labour Bureau has also released the AICPI-IW data for December 2025.

The 7th Pay Commission’s term has ended, but DA will still increase.

You may be surprised to know that the 7th Pay Commission’s term has completely ended on December 31, 2025. However, until the recommendations of the 8th Pay Commission are implemented, DA will continue to be calculated based on the basic pay of the 7th Pay Commission. This will bring significant benefits to employees and pensioners.

Learn What DA Is

Many people are unaware of DA. Dearness Allowance is considered a component given to central government employees that helps mitigate the impact of rising inflation. The government announces DA increases twice a year. In January and July, DA is directly applied to the basic salary. Therefore, an increase in DA automatically increases the total salary.

What is AICPI-IW and Why is it Important?

AICPI-IW (All India Consumer Price Index – Industrial Workers) is an index that reflects changes in the prices of everyday commodities. It is released monthly by the Labour Bureau. DA is determined based on the 12-month average of this index.

What do the AICPI-IW figures say?

In December 2025, the AICPI-IW figure was 148.2. Based on this, the 12-month average is 145.54. After this calculation, the DA comes out to be approximately 60.3 per cent. The government usually announces DA in round figures. In such a situation, the DA can be increased to per centent. Currently, the DA is 58%, meaning a 2% increase is possible.

Learn how much the previous increase occurred.

Based on the AICPI-IW figures for June 2025, the government increased the DA percentage in October 2025. This increased the DA from 55 per cent to 58 per cent. These figures are not as robust, so the increase is likely to be 2 per cent.

Learn how DA is calculated.

For information, there is a separate formula for calculating DA. First, the new base year (2016) is added to the old base year (2001) using a factor of 2.88.