Karnataka announces final minimum wage proposal with 60% average hike

In a relief to more than one lakh workers in 81 scheduled occupations in Karnataka reeling under the pressure of rising prices of essential commodities, the Karnataka government on Friday announced the final proposal for minimum wages — ranging from ₹ 19,300 for an unskilled worker in zone 3 to ₹ 31,100 in an average minimum wage for a highly skilled worker in the 16% zone. from current wages.

The final announcement Friday comes more than a year after a revised minimum wage proposal for 81 scheduled jobs in the state was announced on April 11, 2025. A variable childcare allowance of ₹1,030 has been incorporated into the minimum wages for two years.

Confirming the announcement, Labor Minister Santosh Lad told The Hindu that the new minimum wage will help the large workforce in the state.

“This is a workforce that would have very little left after paying ESI and PF in the current minimum wage structure. They are also outside the BPL limits,” he said.

Karnataka is the third state after Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to announce revised minimum wages in the country in recent months. While violence broke out in Uttar Pradesh, large-scale protests over salaries were reported in Haryana.

Three zones

The current revision is based on the calculation of household expenditure as per the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in the 1991 Reptakos Brett case.

The state has been classified into three zones for calculating the minimum wage, with the Greater Bengaluru area falling under Zone 1. While Zone 2 is all other district centers and rest of the regions have been classified under Zone 3.

The revision comes ten years after the last revision carried out in 2016-2017. While unions pressed the government to announce minimum wages, industry and business opposed the increase, citing fears of capital flight from the state and the inability of industries, particularly the SME sector, to pay adjusted wages.

Published – 22 May 2026 22:02 IST