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Minimum Wages in Uttar Pradesh

Minimum wage rates for shops and commercial establishments in Uttar Pradesh, by skill category and wage zone, with the effective date and the next revision due.

These rates are an interim order, not a regular revision

The order of 17 April 2026 was issued under section 3(b) of the U.P. Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 as interim relief after the labour unrest in Noida and Greater Noida in April 2026, on the recommendation of a high-level committee. It supersedes the Labour Commissioner's regular revision of 25 March 2026 for all employments except brick kilns, and stays in force until the state notifies rates under the Code on Wages. Employers should pay these rates now and expect a fresh notification once the U.P. Code on Wages Rules, 2026 are finalised.

Effective from1 April 2026
Next revision due1 October 2026
Revision cycle1 April and 1 October each year

Uttar Pradesh minimum wage rates: shops and commercial establishments

Category I

Gautam Buddha Nagar and Ghaziabad districts, which take in Noida and Greater Noida.

Skill categoryBasicVDATotal per month
Unskilled₹12,885₹805₹13,690
Semi-skilled₹14,173₹886₹15,059
Skilled₹15,876₹992₹16,868

Category II

All other districts that have a nagar nigam (municipal corporation), including Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Varanasi, Prayagraj and Meerut.

Skill categoryBasicVDATotal per month
Unskilled₹12,241₹765₹13,006
Semi-skilled₹13,464₹842₹14,306
Skilled₹15,082₹943₹16,025

Category III

All remaining districts of the state.

Skill categoryBasicVDATotal per month
Unskilled₹11,629₹727₹12,356
Semi-skilled₹12,791₹799₹13,590
Skilled₹14,328₹896₹15,224

Rates cover shops and commercial establishments only. Other employments notified in Uttar Pradesh carry their own notified rates, which are usually higher. Verify against the state notification before running payroll.

How Uttar Pradesh sets minimum wages

Governing law

Code on Wages, 2019, in force from 21 November 2025. The rates below come from Order No. 374/36-2-2026-2041256 of the Labour Department dated 17 April 2026, an interim order effective 1 April 2026 that supersedes the Labour Commissioner's order of 25 March 2026.

Employment covered

Shops and commercial establishments

Revision cycle

1 April and 1 October each year

Uttar Pradesh's April 2026 rates are unusual in origin. The Labour Commissioner had issued the regular half-yearly VDA revision on 25 March 2026. Then, after workers in Noida and Greater Noida struck for wages on the Haryana pattern, the state constituted a high-level committee, agreed a new three-category classification with employers and workers, and on 17 April 2026 issued an interim order under the Industrial Disputes Act fixing substantially higher rates from 1 April. The order records that the statutory revisions due in 2019 and 2024 on the CPI never happened, and that the current figures are based on an index of 425 points against the 216 on which the 2012 rates were built. Category I is only two districts, Gautam Buddha Nagar and Ghaziabad; every other district with a municipal corporation is Category II. The order covers 74 scheduled employments, with brick kilns on piece rates left out. It is explicitly interim, pending rates under the Code on Wages, so a fresh notification is likely within the year.

Frequently asked questions: Uttar Pradesh minimum wages

From 1 April 2026, unskilled work is ₹13,690 a month in Gautam Buddha Nagar and Ghaziabad, ₹13,006 in other districts with a municipal corporation, and ₹12,356 elsewhere. Skilled work reaches ₹16,868 in Category I. The figures come from the interim order of 17 April 2026.
Noida and Greater Noida are in Gautam Buddha Nagar district, which is Category I: ₹13,690 a month for unskilled work, ₹15,059 semi-skilled and ₹16,868 skilled from 1 April 2026, made up of a basic wage and a VDA of ₹805 to ₹992.
Because of labour unrest in Noida and Greater Noida in April 2026, where workers demanded wages on the Haryana pattern. A high-level committee agreed a three-category classification with both sides, and the state issued the order under section 3(b) of the U.P. Industrial Disputes Act as interim relief, superseding the regular revision of 25 March 2026.
Every district with a nagar nigam other than Gautam Buddha Nagar and Ghaziabad, which means Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Meerut, Bareilly, Aligarh, Moradabad, Gorakhpur, Saharanpur, Firozabad, Jhansi, Mathura-Vrindavan, Ayodhya and Shahjahanpur. Category III is the rest.
The VDA is revised on 1 April and 1 October. The April 2026 interim order stays in force until the state notifies rates under the Code on Wages, and the U.P. Code on Wages Rules, 2026 were in draft when it issued, so a fresh notification is expected.

Keep minimum wages current without tracking notifications

Engage HRMS applies the right minimum wage by work location and skill category, and flags employees who fall below the floor when a state issues its next revision.

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