The Uttar Pradesh government has announced an interim hike in minimum wages of up to 21%, effective retrospectively from April 1, 2026, a decision taken the day after tens of thousands of factory workers in Noida staged violent protests demanding better pay.
The revision, approved on April 14, 2026, covers unskilled, semi-skilled, and skilled workers across the state and is structured on a three-tier regional scale. Workers in Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida) and Ghaziabad get the sharpest increase. Unskilled workers in these districts will now earn ₹13,690 per month, up from ₹11,313, a jump of ₹2,377.
Semi-skilled wages rise to ₹15,059 from ₹12,445, and skilled workers will take home ₹16,868, up from ₹13,940. In other municipal corporation areas across the state, unskilled wages have been revised to ₹13,006, semi-skilled to ₹14,306, and skilled to ₹16,025, a roughly 15% increase. For districts outside municipal corporation limits, the hike is more modest at around 9%, with unskilled workers now earning ₹12,356, semi-skilled ₹13,591, and skilled ₹15,224.
Industrial Development Commissioner Deepak Kumar confirmed the decision, stating that the government had “adopted a balanced approach” after consultations with both worker representatives and industry bodies. Principal Secretary (Labour) MKS Sundaram said in a statement carried by PTI, “Our committee met yesterday evening. After that, we held discussions with both workers and industrialists. Around 20–22 worker representatives participated and shared their concerns.”
The protests erupted on April 13, when an estimated 40,000 to 45,000 workers gathered across industrial sectors in Noida, including Sectors 60, 62, 63, Phase-2, and parts of Greater Noida, demanding wage parity with neighbouring states. The unrest turned violent in places, with arson and stone-pelting reported.
A trigger for the discontent was Haryana’s recent announcement of a 35% minimum wage hike, which workers in Noida’s industrial belt said had opened a stark pay gap between workers doing comparable work on either side of the state border. The Yogi Adityanath government responded by constituting a high-level committee overnight, which recommended the interim revision the following morning.
Chief Minister Adityanath has directed employers to ensure timely wage payments, proper overtime compensation, weekly holiday pay, and safe working conditions, particularly for women workers. The government has also clarified that viral social media claims of a uniform ₹20,000 monthly minimum wage across UP are “completely baseless.”
No such order has been issued. Officials confirmed the current revision is an interim measure. A formal Wage Board is expected to be constituted next month to begin a structured review of minimum wages across all 74 scheduled employments, with indexation-linked revisions also under consideration.
The announcement is the second significant wage development in UP this month. The state had separately revised minimum wages for 74 scheduled employments, effective April 1, 2026, under the semi-annual revision cycle linked to the All India Consumer Price Index — a routine update that had already nudged unskilled wages to ₹11,314. The interim hike announced on April 14 now supersedes those rates for most categories in the affected regions.
For HR and payroll teams in UP, particularly in Noida’s manufacturing and garment clusters, the immediate task is recalibrating April payrolls to reflect the revised rates retrospectively from April 1. Employers who have already processed the month’s payroll on older rates will need to calculate arrears and issue differential payments. Under the Labour Codes effective from April 1, 2026, wage dues must be cleared within two working days of the payment cycle, making swift payroll corrections both a compliance obligation and a workforce relations priority.
