Minimum Wages and Revised VDA for Industrial Workers of Stone Mines w.e.f 1st April 2026- Labour Bureau, order 30.09.2026
File No.6/1/2026-VDA
Government of India
Ministry of Labour & Employment
Labour Bureau
Chandigarh
Dated:30 September, 2026
ORDER
In exercise of the powers conferred by Central Government vide Notification No. S.O. 2451(E) dated 12th May, 2026 of the Ministry of Labour and Employment the undersigned hereby revises the rates of Variable Dearness Allowance w.e.f. 01.10.2026 on the basis of the average Consumer Price Index for Industrial workers reaching 431.42 from 424.80 as on 30.06.2026 (linked to Base 2016=100) and thereby resulting in an increase of 6.62 points. The revised Variable Dearness Allowance as under shall be payable from 01.10.2026.
The rates of Variable Dearness Allowance for employees employed in “STONE MINES” shall be as under:-
| Item of work | Rates of Variable Dearness Allowance as on 01.04.2026 |
| 1. Excavation & removal of over burden with 50 meters lead/ 1.5 meters lift. * | |
| (i) Soft Soil | 218 |
| (ii) Soft Soil with rock | 323 |
| (iii) Rock | 428 |
| 2. Removal and stacking of rejected stones with 50 metres lead/ 1.5 Metres lift. * | 174 |
| 3. Stone breaking or Stone Crushing for the Stone size of:- | |
| 1.0 inch to 1.5 inches | 1297 |
| Above 1.5 inches to 3.0 inches | 1109 |
| Above 3.0 inches to 5.0 inches | 654 |
| Above 5.0 inches | 539 |
Therefore, the minimum piece rate wages showing the basic and Variable Dearness Allowance payable w.e.f. 01.10.2026 to the employees employed in Stone Mines shall be as under:
| Category | Basic wages | VDA | Total |
| 1. Excavation & removal of overburden with 50 meters Lead/1.5 Meters lift. * | |||
| (i) Soft Soil | 351 | +218 | =569 |
| (ii) Soft Soil with rock | 531 | +323 | =854 |
| (iii) Rock | 703 | +428 | =1131 |
| 2. Removal and stacking of rejected stones with 50 metres lead/ 1.5 Metres lift. * | 283 | +174 | =457 |
| 3. Stone Breaking or Stone Crushing for stone size of category ** | |||
| Basic wages | VDA | Total | |
| (i) 1.0 inch to 1.5 inches | 2171 | +1297 | = 3468 |
| (ii) Above 1.5 inches to 3.0 inches | 1857 | +1109 | =2966 |
| (iii) Above 3.0 inches to 5.0 inches | 1088 | +654 | =1742 |
| (iv) Above 5.0 inches | 893 | +539 | =1432 |
The workers employed ‘on minimum guaranteed time rate of wages per day shall be entitled to time rate of minimum wages plus special allowance, if any, for unskilled category of above ground workers revised from time to time by the Central Government in respect of scheduled employment in stone mines.
* Per 2.831 cube meters (100 cubic feet)
** Per truck load of 5.662 cubic meters (200 cubic feet)
The detailed classification and explanation are as per Notification No. S.O. 189(E) dated 19th January, 2017 of the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
The instant notification is being issued in pursuance of sub-section (2) of Section 69 of the Code on Wages, 2019 (29 of 2019).
(Shyam Singh Negi)
Direcor General
Labour Bureau
ANNEXURE
CLASSIFICATION OF AREAS
| AREA – “A” | |||||
| Ahmedabad | (UA) | Hyderabad | (UA) | Faridabad complex | (M.Corpn) |
| Bangaluru | (UA) | Kanpur | (UA) | Ghaziabad | (UA) |
| Delhi | (UA) | Chennai | (UA) | Noida | |
| Greater Mumbai | (UA) | Nagpur | (UA) | Secunderabad | |
| Kolkata | (UA) | Lucknow | (UA) | Gurgaon | (M. Corpn) |
| Navi Mumbai | (UA) | Pune | (UA) | ||
| AREA – “B” | |||||
| Agra | (UA) | Gwalior | (UA) | Port Blair | (UA) |
| Ajmer | (UA) | Hubli-Dharwad | (M. Corpn) | Puducherry | (UA) |
| Aligarh | (UA) | Indore | (UA) | Raipur | (UA) |
| Allahabad | (UA) | Jabalpur | (UA) | Raurkela | (UA) |
| Amravati | (M.Corpn) | Jaipur | (M.Corpn) | Rajkot | (UA) |
| Amritsar | (UA) | Jalandhar | (UA) | Ranchi | (UA) |
| Asansol | (UA) | Jalandhar-Cantt. | (UA) | Saharanpur | (M.Corpn) |
| Aurangabad | (UA) | Jammu | (UA) | Salem | (UA) |
| Bareilly | (UA) | Jamnagar | (UA) | Sangli | (UA) |
| Belgaum | (UA) | Jamshedpur | (UA) | Shillong | |
| Bhavnagar | (UA) | Jhansi | (UA) | Siliguri | (UA) |
| Bhiwandi | (UA) | Jodhpur | (UA) | Solapur | (M.Corpn) |
| Bhopal | (UA) | Kannur | (UA) | Srinagar | (UA) |
| Bhubaneshwar | (UA) | Kochi | (UA) | Surat | (UA) |
| Bikaner | Kolhapur | (UA) | Thiruvanantapuram | (UA) | |
| Bokaro Steel City | (UA) | Kollam | (UA) | Thrissur | (UA) |
| Chandigarh | (UA) | Kota | (M.Corpn) | Tiruchirappalli | (UA) |
| Coimbatore | (UA) | Kozhikode | (UA) | Tiruppur | (UA) |
| Cuttack | (UA) | Ludhiana | (M.Corpn) | Ujjain | (M.Corpn) |
| Dehradun | (UA) | Madurai | (UA) | Vadodara | (UA) |
| Dhanbad | (UA) | Malappuram | (UA) | Varanasi | (UA) |
| Durgapur | Malegaon | (UA) | Vasai- Virar City | (M.Corpn) | |
| Durg-Bhilai Nagar | (UA) | Mangalore | (UA) | Vijayawada | (UA) |
| Erode | (UA) | Meerut | (UA) | Vishakhapatnam | (M.Corpn) |
| Firozabad | Moradabad | (M. Corpn) | Warangal | (UA) | |
| Goa | Mysore | (UA) | |||
| Gorakhpur | (UA) | Nanded Waghala | (M. Corpn) | ||
| Greater Visakhapatnam | (M.Corpn) | Nasik | (UA) | ||
| Gulbarga | (UA) | Nellore | (UA) | ||
| Guntur | (UA) | Panchkula | (UA) | ||
| Guwahati | (UA) | Patna | (UA) | ||
Note 1. Area ‘C’ shall comprise all areas not mentioned in this list but to which the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 (11 of 1948) extends.
Note 2.-U.A. means Urban Agglomeration.
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