Dearness Allowance: AICPI-IW jumps to 148.6 in January 2026; what it means for next DA hike

The Labour Bureau of the Ministry of Labour and Employment has reported a 0.4 point jump in the All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (AICPI-IW) for the month of January 2026. This data is used for calculating the dearness allowance and dearness relief hikes for central government employees and pensioners respectively as per the recommendation of the 7th Pay Commission.

"The All-India CPI-IW for January, 2026 increased by 0.4 points and stood at 148.6 points (one hundred forty-eight point six)," the Labour Bureau said in a press release dated February 27, 2026.

The year-on-year inflation for the month of January, 2026 stood at 3.77% as compared to 3.10% in January, 2025, the release said.

How will it affect your DA hike?

The January 2026 AICPI-IW data will not have an impact on the expected DA hike with effect from January 1, 2026. This hike is expected to be announced soon in March 2026.

As per the prevailing norm set by the 7th CPC, the AICPI-IW data for the month of January 2026 and the following months will be helpful in deciding the DA hike with effect from July 1, 2026 and later. However, two factors can result in completely different outcomes:

First, the 8th Pay Commission started functioning recently. While the pay panel will take a long time to submit its recommendation, there is no clarity as of now of whether the government will continue to announce the DA hikes twice in a year till the implementation of the 8th CPC's recommendations.