DA Hike for July-December 2025: Central government employees and pensioners are hopeful that the last dearness allowance (DA) revision in the 7th Pay Commission will be better than the last one announced for the January-June cycle 2025. The government hiked DA by 2% for the first half of the current calendar year. At present, the DA for central government employees and pensioners stands at 55%. The 7th Pay Commission will complete its term on December 31, 2025, so this will be the last revision under the current pay panel.
Central employees hopeful of a better DA hike this time
The second installment of DA for central government employees in 2025 is to be implemented from July 1, 2025. Though, the announcement usually comes around Diwali in the month of October or November.
Meanwhile, the All India Consumer Price Index (AICPI-IW) for industrial workers has registered a rise of 0.5 point in the month of April, which has raised hopes of a good increase for the employees.
The AICPI-IW index rose to 143.5 in April 2025, which is more than the 143.2 recorded in January 2025. The important thing is that this is the second consecutive month when the index has seen an increase.
Earlier, it had declined in January and February 2025. “The All-India CPI-IW for April, 2025 increased by 0.5 point and stood at 143.5 (one hundred forty-three point five),” the Labor Bureau said in a press release dated May 30, 2025.
In March, the AICPI-IW index increased by 0.2 point to 143.0. Although it is slightly lower than January’s 143.2, it is a positive sign as far as the DA hike is concerned as before this there was a continuous decline in inflation numbers based on AICPI-IW after November 2024 and continued until February 2025.
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May and June CPI-IW numbers will decide July DA hike central government employees
This rise in AICPI-IW in the last two months, March and April, indicates that the expected Dearness Allowance/Dearness Relief (DA/DR) for central government employees and pensioners can be around 57.95%, which means a likely 3% hike from July 2025.
However, it has to be seen how much increase or decrease is there in the index in the next two months.
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