The Telangana government has implemented revised minimum wages for nearly 1.11 crore workers across the state from Monday (June 1), marking the first major overhaul of wage structures in around 14 years.
The Labour Department has issued fresh orders introducing a unified wage model aimed at ensuring more uniform pay across sectors. With the inclusion of 10 new employment sectors under the minimum wage framework, the total number of scheduled employment sectors in the state has now risen to 77.
Under the revised system, the state has been divided into three wage zones based on urbanisation and living costs. Urban agglomerations have been classified as Zone-1, municipalities as Zone-2, and villages, along with other rural areas, as Zone-3.
The government has also categorised workers into four skill groups, including a newly introduced ‘high-skilled’ category. Under the revised structure, the minimum monthly wage for high-skilled workers in Zone-1 has been fixed at ₹20,000.
The revision follows prolonged demands from trade unions and workers’ associations, which had approached the courts in recent years, arguing that Telangana’s minimum wages were significantly lower than those in several other states.
After coming to power, the Congress government constituted a Cabinet sub-committee headed by the Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka to examine the issue. The panel, which included Janak Prasad, Chairman of the Minimum Wage Advisory Council, held consultations with trade unions, employers and labour representatives before finalising the recommendations while submitting a report on May 31, 2025.
According to the new guidelines, workers already receiving wages higher than the revised minimum rates will continue to receive the higher pay. The orders also mandate equal wages irrespective of gender for equal work, overtime pay for work beyond eight hours a day, and double wages for work performed on weekends and public holidays.
The government has further clarified that principal employers will be responsible for ensuring payment of minimum wages even when workers are hired through contractors or service agencies.
New sectors brought under the minimum wage framework include e-commerce, courier services, places of worship, social organisations, amusement parks, mobile tower maintenance, cable TV networks, borewell services, readymix concrete units and LPG distribution agencies.
