Telangana Govt Hikes Minimum Wages After 12 Years

Hyderabad: In a major decision benefiting more than 1.11 crore workers, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Thursday announced a revision of minimum wages for workers with effect from June 1, 2026. This is the first comprehensive revision of minimum wages in more than 12 years.

The Chief Minister said the government had classified workers into four categories — unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled and highly skilled — while dividing the state into three zones for determining minimum wages. Zone I comprises municipal corporations, Zone II includes municipalities, and Zone III covers rural and other areas.

The Chief Minister, speaking at a press conference along with labour minister G. Vivek Venkataswamy, said that the minimum wage for unskilled workers had been increased from Rs 12,750 to Rs 16,000, while semi-skilled workers’ wages were raised from Rs 13,152 to Rs 17,000. Skilled workers will now receive Rs 18,500 instead of Rs 13,772, while highly skilled workers’ wages have gone up from Rs 14,607 to Rs 20,000.

The Chief Minister described the move as the first major workers’ welfare decision taken after the formation of Telangana state and alleged that the previous BRS government had neglected the issue for 10 years.

Explaining the background of the decision, the government said the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, empowers state governments to fix and periodically revise minimum wages in scheduled employments to ensure minimum living standards and social security for workers.

Telangana currently has 73 scheduled employment sectors for which wages are notified. Although wages are supposed to be revised every five years, the state had not undertaken a comprehensive revision for nearly 12 years, with the last revision taking place between 2006 and 2012 in undivided Andhra Pradesh.

The labour minister said the prolonged delay created a huge gap between officially notified minimum wages and prevailing market conditions, inflation and rising living costs. Telangana’s wage structure had also fallen behind neighbouring states and comparable sectors. Due to the delay, trade unions and workers’ associations approached the High Court by filing writ petitions, including W.P. No.14 of 2023 and W.P. No.34997 of 2022, seeking directions for wage revision.

Recognising the importance and sensitivity of the issue, the government constituted a three-member Cabinet Sub-Committee through G.O.Rt.No.848 issued by the labour, employment, training and factories department on June 27, 2025. The committee examined various aspects, including long-pending demands from workers and industries, wage structures in neighbouring states, inflationary trends, rising cost of living and pending court cases. The labour and employment department also submitted a detailed report before the committee.

Based on the recommendations of the Minimum Wages Advisory Board, prevailing economic conditions, legal developments and the need to ensure industrial competitiveness and employment generation, the committee recommended a uniform and progressive wage structure in tune with the objectives of the new Wage Code-2019. The revised wages will come into force from June 1.

Revanth Reddy also advised the youth to move beyond the mindset of focusing only on IT jobs and opportunities in the United States, stating that education without employment and livelihood opportunities was meaningless.

Stressing the importance of technical and skill-based education, he said countries such as Germany, Japan and Singapore offered vast employment opportunities for skilled workers. He noted that the state government had established a Skills University to encourage youth towards skill-based education and employment opportunities.

Zone I (Municipal corporations)

Unskilled workers ₹16,000

Semi-skilled workers ₹17,000

Skilled workers ₹18,500

Highly skilled workers ₹20,000

Zone-2 (Municipalities)

Unskilled workers ₹15,000

Semi-skilled workers ₹16,000

Skilled workers ₹17,500

Highly skilled workers ₹19,000

Zone-III (rural areas)

Unskilled workers ₹14,000

Semi-skilled workers ₹15,000

Skilled workers ₹16,500

Highly skilled workers ₹18,000

Establishments: 9,37,455

Worker count

74,97,420 unskilled workers

20,94,455 semi-skilled workers

15,64,329 skilled workers

Wage rise

Unskilled workers 34.95%

Semi-skilled workers 32.01%

Skilled workers 25.90%