DA hike before Holi 2026? How soon can central government employees expect a rise in their salaries?

The Dearness allowance (DA) hike for central government employees is set to be 2% after the Labour Bureau announced the December 2025 reading of All India Consumer Price Index-Industrial Workers (AICPI-IW) at 148.2. After a 2% jump, DA will increase from 58% to 60%. Lakhs of central government employees have been keenly waiting for the announcement of the DA hike. Can government announce it ahead of the Holi, which is falling on March 3, 2026?

What has been the trend of DA hike announcements?

The central government provides the DA hike to its employees twice a year- in January and July. However, it doesn’t announce the hike in the same months. Traditionally, it announces ahead of a big festival such as Holi or Diwali. However, that is not possible all the time.

For example, Holi in 2025 fell on March 14, but the government announced the DA hike on March 28.


However, the government announced the year’s second DA hike on October 1, 2025, which was days ahead of Diwali, which fell on October 20.

Manjeet Singh Patel, national president of All India NPS Employees Federation (AINPSEF), who is also a central government employee himself, says the government may announce the DA hike ahead of Holi this time, and the endorsement can be in April.

However, to know the real date of the DA hike announcement, we have to wait for the government order.

Why does DA matter for government employees?

DA ensures a bi-annual hike in the basic salaries of government employees which remains fixed in a pay commission.

For example, the basic salary of an entry level Group D employee as per the 7^th Pay Commission pay scale is Rs 18,000 effective from January 1, 2016.

The 7^th CPC term ended on December 31, 2025, while the implementation of the 8^th Pay Commission can take more than a year. Till then, the basic salary of employees will remain the same, but their DA will keep rising every six months.

Example of DA’s impact on salary

Basic salary- Rs 18,000

DA (58%)- 58% of Rs 18,000= Rs 10,440

Basic + DA = Rs 28,440

Employees also get allowances such as house rent allowance and annual salary increments of 3% other than the basic pay and DA. For senior-level employees, there are many other allowances.

How is DA calculated?

DA is calculated on the basis of the 12-month average data of AICPI-IW, which is a monthly index that measures the relative changes in retail prices of fixed basket of goods and services consumed by industrial workers over a period of time.

DA calculation formula

DA% = [{12-month average of AICPI-IW (base year 2001)– 261.42}/261.42x100]

However, we will first have to link the 2016 base value to the 2001 base values by multiplying it by 2.88.

The factor of 2.88 is arrived at to equate the latest base year (2016) to 2001. Labour Bureau data shows that for August 2020, the value of CPI-IW under the old base (2001=100) was 33.8 and CPI-IW under the new base(2016=100) was 117.4, so the factor is calculated as 338 ÷ 117.4= 2.88.

The AICPI-IW reading for December 2025 was 148.2, which made the 12-month average of the same to be 145.54.

Estimated DA hike for January 2026

DA%= (145.54X2.88)– 261.42}/261.42x100]

= 419.15-261.42/261.42X100

= 0.6033X100= 60.33%

Since the government takes round figures, a 60.33% DA means 60%.

It means, DA is set to rise from its current rate of 58% to 60%.