Andhra Pradesh Labour Commissioner Notifies Revised Cost of Living Index Numbers for Scheduled Employments

The Commissioner of Labour, Andhra Pradesh, Vijayawada, acting as the Competent Authority under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, issued a Notification on October 29, 2025, declaring the Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers for State Industrial Workers and State Agricultural Workers. This crucial delegated legislation, published in the Andhra Pradesh Gazette, Part II Extraordinary, on October 31, 2025, came into force retrospectively from October 1, 2025. The notification aims to facilitate the calculation and payment of Cost of Living Allowance (CLA) to employees across various scheduled employments in the state, ensuring that their minimum wages are adjusted in line with prevailing economic conditions.

The notification specifies the Consumer Price Index numbers for the half year ending June 2025. For State Industrial Workers, the CPI number, linked to the 1982=100 series, was declared as 1886. Similarly, for State Agricultural Workers, the CPI number, linked to the 1986=100 series, was declared as 1492. These updated index numbers are applicable to a comprehensive list of employments categorized under Part-I and Part-II of the Schedule appended to the notification. Part-I enumerates 65 industrial employments, including sectors such as Oil Mills, Automobile Engineering Workshops, Manufacturing Processes, Handloom Weaving, Baking, Brick Kiln Industry, Cashew Processing, Cement Concrete Pipes, Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, Cinema Industry, Clubs and Canteens, Coffee Plantations, Construction, Cotton Ginning, Distilleries, Domestic Workers, Electronic Industry, Fisheries, Footwear and Leather Industry, Garment and Allied Manufacturing, Glass Industry, Gold Covering and Gold Coating, Hospitals, Hostels, Hotels and Restaurants, Jute and Coir Industry, Lime Stone Kilns, Marketing Societies, Match and Fire Works, Metal Foundries, Mica Works, Mini and Tiny Cement Factories, Motion Picture Industry, Non-Teaching Staff in Educational Institutions, Paper and Paper Boards, Petrol Bunks, Powerloom Industry, Printing Press, Private and Public Motor Transport, Professionals like Chartered Accountants and Tax Consultants, Rice Mills, Salt Pans, Safai Karmacharis, Security Services, Seed Processing Units, Shops and Commercial Establishments, Slate Factories, Soft Drinks, Spinning Mills, Steel Mills, Stone Breaking, Tanneries, Tiles and Potteries, and Tobacco Manufactory. Part-II lists five agricultural employments, namely Betal Vines, Dairy Farming, Poultry Farming, Horticulture, and Agriculture. The legislation provided: “I, the Commissioner of Labour, Andhra Pradesh, Vijayawada, and the Competent Authority under Minimum Wages Act, 1948, hereby declare the Consumer Price Index numbers for State Industrial Workers as well as State Agricultural Workers for half year ending June, 2025, as on 01-10-2025, is as follows in respect of the employments specified under Part-I and Part-II in the Schedule.”

The underlying policy rationale for this notification stems from the imperative to safeguard the economic well-being of workers by regularly adjusting their wages to account for inflation. The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 (a Central Act), mandates the appropriate government to fix and revise minimum rates of wages for scheduled employments. A critical component of these minimum wages is the Cost of Living Allowance, which is directly linked to the Consumer Price Index numbers. The earlier statutory framework under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, established the mechanism for such adjustments. This notification addresses the ongoing need to update these index numbers periodically, thereby preventing the erosion of workers' purchasing power due to rising living costs. By declaring the latest CPI numbers, the notification ensures that the statutory gaps arising from inflationary pressures are addressed, and the minimum wages remain relevant and adequate. Employers in the listed scheduled employments are now obligated to calculate and pay the Cost of Living Allowance for the period from October 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026, based on these newly notified index numbers, specifically for points over and above the existing link points. This mechanism ensures a dynamic adjustment of wages, reflecting the real-world economic conditions faced by both industrial and agricultural workers in Andhra Pradesh.

Keywords: Minimum Wages Act, 1948, Cost of Living Index, Consumer Price Index, Andhra Pradesh, Labour Commissioner, Scheduled Employments, Industrial Workers, Agricultural Workers, Wage Adjustment, Inflation, Notification, October 2025

Geo Tags: Country: India, State: Andhra Pradesh District: Not Applicable