India has revised wage rates under the newly launched Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act, 2025, raising wages across all states and Union Territories with effect from July 1, the government said on Tuesday, June 30.Under the revised notification, no notified wage rate will be below ₹300 per day, with the national average wage increasing to ₹327.4 per day from ₹298.8 under the previous rural employment programme, representing an average increase of more than 10%.
The government said 21 states, Union Territories and administrative units have been brought up to the new ₹300 base wage, replacing the earlier lowest notified wage of ₹241 per day.
Historically lower-wage states will receive the steepest increases. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh will see wage hikes ranging between 15% and 25%, according to the notification.
Among higher-wage states, Haryana will have the highest notified wage at ₹409 per day, followed by Goa at ₹406 and Kerala at ₹401. Karnataka and Punjab will also have notified wage rates above ₹360 per day.The average growth in real wages under the rural employment guarantee scheme over July 2025–May 2026 was just 2%, down from 3.8% over July 2024–June 2025, according to data from the Mumbai-based Systematix Research. The number of person-days of work per household under MGNREGA also fell, from 15.4 in March–May 2025 to 13 in March–May 2026.Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the revised wages, along with the expansion of guaranteed employment to 125 days under the VB-G RAM G Act, would strengthen rural livelihoods and increase purchasing power.The revised wage rates come into force alongside the rollout of the VB-G RAM G Act, 2025, which replaces the previous rural employment guarantee framework and provides 125 days of guaranteed wage employment to eligible rural households.Read more: India’s growth mix may have changed tangibly(Edited by : Sriram Iyer)First Published: Jul 1, 2026 8:57 AM IST
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