Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has increased the minimum wages for workers in the unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled, and highly skilled categories by Rs 6 per day with effect from October 1, 2026.
According to a notification issued by the Office of the Labour Commissioner, Odisha, the hike is linked to the rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for industrial workers. The CPI (base 2016=100) increased from 147.50 to 149.80 during the previous half-year, registering an average rise of 2.30 points. As per the existing formula, VDA is revised twice a year—on April 1 and October 1—at the rate of Rs 2.60 per point increase in the CPI. This has resulted in a uniform increase of Rs 6 in the daily VDA for all categories of employees covered under the state’s minimum wage notification.
The revised daily minimum rates of wages (inclusive of VDA), effective from October 1, 2026, are Rs 478 for unskilled workers (earlier Rs 472), Rs 528 for semi-skilled workers (earlier Rs 522), Rs 578 for skilled workers (earlier Rs 572), and Rs 628 for highly skilled workers (earlier Rs 622).
The notification has been issued by Indramani Tripathy, IAS, Labour Commissioner, under the powers conferred by the earlier state government order (No. 5308 dated July 18, 2024) that had revised the basic minimum wage structure.
The move aims to provide partial relief to workers against the rising cost of living and will benefit a large number of employees in the organised and unorganised sectors across Odisha.
