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Minimum wage (gross)

Source: WageIndicator (wage.is) India / Ministry of Labour & Employment National Floor Level Minimum Wage · effective Jan 1, 2019

India has NO single national statutory minimum wage. Under the Minimum Wages Act 1948, legally binding minimum wages are set sub-nationally (by each of the 28 states + 8 union territories) and sectorally for "scheduled employments" — 1,200+ distinct rates varying by state, zone, industry, and skill (unskilled/semi-skilled/skilled/highly-skilled). The figure reported here is the National Floor Level Minimum Wage (NFLMW) = ₹178/day, the most commonly cited national reference; the ₹5,340/month value is the ₹178×30-day equivalent (some sources cite ₹4,628/month using a 26-day basis). CRITICAL: the NFLMW is ADVISORY/non-statutory — a benchmark below which states should not set wages — not legally enforceable, and frozen since ~2017-2019; effectively all states already exceed it. Actual binding minimums are far higher: state unskilled rates run roughly ₹11,000-₹20,000/month, and statutory central-sphere rates (railways, mines, ports, etc., revised by the Chief Labour Commissioner via VDA every 1 Apr / 1 Oct) are ~₹821-₹1,094/day as of 1 Apr 2026 — but those cover only central-sphere employments, not the largest worker group. A binding statutory national floor wage under the Code on Wages 2019 is being finalised but had not been notified/in force as of mid-2026. No native hourly rate is published. Effective date is approximate (year NFLMW reached ₹178).

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