DA hiked by 2% for central govt staff

New Delhi: The union cabinet Friday approved release of an additional instalment of dearness allowance (DA) to central government employees and dearness relief (DR) to pensioners with effect from January 1, 2025, representing an increase of 2.0% over the existing rate of 53 % of the basic pay or pension to compensate against price rise.

The move will benefit about 48.66 lakh central government employees and 66.55 lakh pensioners.

The increase will reflect in the salary and pension for the month of April with arrears for three months.


The combined impact on the exchequer on account of increase in both DA and DR would be ₹6,614.04 crore per annum, union information and broadcasting minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters, after a meeting of the cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The previous hike took place in July 2024, when DA was raised to 53% from 50%.

The increase is in accordance with the accepted formula, which is based on the recommendations of the 7th pay commission.

Highway Projects
The cabinet committee on economic affairs approved the construction of four-lane access controlled greenfield and brownfield highway project in Bihar to be developed on hybrid annuity model (HAM) at an investment of ₹3,712.40 crore.

This includes the land acquisition cost of ₹718.97 crore and ₹2989.08 crore of civil cost.

The corridor will extend for 120.10 km between Patna-Arrah-Sasaram and will help in reducing the increasing congestion while catering to the needs of densely built-up areas in places like Arrah, Grahini, Piro, Bikramganj, Mokar and Sasaram.

Currently, connectivity between Sasaram, Arrah and Patna relies on existing state highways (SH-2, SH-12, SH-81 and SH-102) and takes three-four hours due to heavy congestion en route including in Arrah town.

According to the statement issued after the Cabinet decision, the project alignment integrates with major transport corridors, including NH-19, NH-319, NH-922, NH-131G, and NH-120, providing seamless connectivity to Aurangabad, Kaimur, and Patna.