The All-India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers is the official inflation index published monthly by the Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour & Employment. It is the basis for revising Dearness Allowance for Central Government employees and Dearness Relief for pensioners.

When is AICPI-IW published?

The Labour Bureau publishes the monthly AICPI-IW reading on the last working day of the following month — for example, January's index is released at the end of February.

What is the base year of AICPI-IW?

Since October 2020, AICPI-IW uses 2016 = 100 as the base year. Earlier readings used 2001 = 100. The linking factor between the two series is 2.88 — multiply the new index by 2.88 to compare with old-series values.

How does AICPI-IW determine DA?

The standard 7th CPC formula is DA% = floor(((12-month average AICPI-IW × 2.88) − 261.42) ÷ 261.42 × 100). Each January and July, the 12-month rolling average is computed; the increase in DA% is rounded down to the nearest whole number.

Where do I find the original Labour Bureau press release?

Labour Bureau press releases are published at labourbureau.gov.in/aicpin. Each monthly release contains the all-India index plus break-up by 88 industrially important centres.

Labour Bureau · Base 2016 = 100

AICPI-IW Monthly Archive

Every month's Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers, the official basis for Central Government DA revisions. Track the rolling 12-month average and projected DA progression.

Latest Index

149.9

Apr 2026 · Base 2016 = 100

All releases (25 months)

Click any month to read a detailed analysis of that release, including DA impact and inflation context.

Month	AICPI-IW	MoM change	12-mo avg	Cumulative DA
Apr 2026	149.9	+0.8	147.51	~62%
Mar 2026	149.1	+0.6	146.97	~61%
Feb 2026	148.5	-0.1	146.47	~61%
Jan 2026	148.6	+0.4	145.99	~60%
Dec 2025	148.2	0.0	145.54	~60%
Nov 2025	148.2	+0.5	145.17	~59%
Oct 2025	147.7	+0.4	144.86	~59%
Sep 2025	147.3	+0.2	144.59	~59%
Aug 2025	147.1	+0.6	144.26	~58%
Jul 2025	146.5	+1.5	143.88	~58%
Jun 2025	145	+1.0	143.57	~58%
May 2025	144	+0.5	143.27	~57%
Apr 2025	143.5	+0.5	142.93	~57%
Mar 2025	143	+0.2	142.58	~57%
Feb 2025	142.8	-0.4	142.55	~57%
Jan 2025	143.2	-0.5	142.52	~57%
Dec 2024	143.7	-0.8	142.44	~56%
Nov 2024	144.5	0.0	142.29	~56%
Oct 2024	144.5	+1.2	141.97	~56%
Sep 2024	143.3	+0.7	141.55	~55%
Aug 2024	142.6	-0.1	141.20	~55%
Jul 2024	142.7	+1.3	140.85	~55%
Jun 2024	141.4	+1.5	140.23	~54%
May 2024	139.9	+0.5	139.65	~53%
Apr 2024	139.4	0.0	139.40	~53%

What is AICPI-IW and why does it matter for Central Government pay?

The All-India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (AICPI-IW) is published monthly by the Labour Bureau under the Ministry of Labour & Employment. It tracks retail price inflation faced by industrial worker households across 88 industrially important centres. For Central Government employees, AICPI-IW is the single most consequential statistic published in the country — it drives every six-monthly Dearness Allowance revision.

The current DA stands at 60% of basic pay (effective 1 Jan 2026), and the next revision will be calculated from the 12-month rolling average of AICPI-IW. The most recent reading of 149.9 for Apr 2026 brings the rolling average to 147.51, suggesting cumulative DA in the region of 62% under the standard formula. See the current DA rate page for the full projection and historical context.

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