Expected DA calculator

This calculator projects the next dearness allowance for central government employees from the AICPI-IW index, using the 7th Central Pay Commission formula. It is pre-filled with the latest published index values for the July 2025 to June 2026 window, which sets the installment from 1 July 2026. The projection is indicative; the Department of Expenditure order fixes the rate.

Calculator

Where the next DA is heading

What the calculator computes

Dearness allowance protects the pay of central government employees against inflation. It is revised twice a year, from 1 January and 1 July, and the percentage is driven by the All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers, the AICPI-IW, published monthly by the Labour Bureau. The calculator takes the twelve monthly index values for the relevant window, averages them, applies the 7th Central Pay Commission formula, and reports the projected DA and the rise over the current rate.

The installment from 1 July 2026 is set by the average of the AICPI-IW for July 2025 to June 2026. Eleven of those months are already published; only June 2026, released around the end of July, is still to come, so the projection firms up as each month is announced.

About the AICPI-IW index

The All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers measures the change in retail prices of a fixed basket of goods and services bought by industrial workers. The Labour Bureau, under the Ministry of Labour and Employment, compiles it and releases each month’s figure on the last working day of the following month, so May 2026 was released on 30 June 2026. The index is now published on the base 2016=100, which replaced the older 2001=100 base from September 2020; the two series are joined by the linking factor 2.88. Because the index can be revised after first release, and because the dearness allowance depends on a twelve-month average rather than a single month, one high or low month moves the projection only slightly.

The DA installment cycle

Dearness allowance is revised on 1 January and 1 July each year, but the order announcing it comes months later, once the Labour Bureau has published all twelve months of the window. The January installment is usually notified around March, and the July installment around September or October, each with arrears from the effective date. The recent installments for 7th Pay Commission employees have been:

The rise to 60 per cent from 1 January 2026 was 2 points, among the smaller January-cycle increases in recent years, reflecting a year-on-year retail inflation for industrial workers of about 3 per cent through 2025. Dearness relief for pensioners is revised by the same percentage on the same dates.

The formula

The dearness allowance percentage is:

DA% = (((12-month average AICPI-IW) x 2.88) - 261.42) / 261.42 x 100, rounded down to the integer.

Three parts need explaining. The 12-month average is the mean of the AICPI-IW for the window (July 2025 to June 2026 for the July 2026 installment). The 2.88 is the linking factor: the reference value 261.42 belongs to the older 2001=100 index series, while the index is now published on the 2016=100 base, so each figure is multiplied by 2.88 to bring it to the 2001=100 scale. Leaving out the 2.88 is the usual mistake and gives a meaningless answer. The 261.42 is the average index at which dearness allowance was nil on 1 January 2016 under the 7th Pay Commission. The result is rounded down, so 63.7 per cent becomes 63 per cent.

A worked example

Take the July 2025 to June 2026 window with the published values and a June 2026 estimate of 151.5. The twelve figures are 146.8, 147.1, 147.3, 147.7, 148.2, 148.2, 148.6, 148.5, 149.1, 149.9, 150.8, and 151.5.

Their average is 148.64. Multiplied by 2.88 that is 428.09. Subtract 261.42 to get 166.67, divide by 261.42 and multiply by 100, which is 63.75 per cent. Rounded down, the projected dearness allowance is 63 per cent, a rise of 3 points over the current 60 per cent. On the eleven published months alone the average is 148.38 and the projection is the same 63 per cent, so the July estimate does not change the headline here.

Notes and scope

The projection is indicative. The Department of Expenditure announces the rate, usually around September or October for the July installment and around March for the January one, and that order is what governs. The Labour Bureau can revise a past month, which is why every month is left as an editable input rather than a fixed number. Dearness relief for pensioners moves by the same percentage on the same date.

The calculator uses the current 60 per cent as the base for the rise. To project a later installment, replace the twelve months with that window’s values and set the current DA to the then-current figure. The same formula and the same 2.88 factor and 261.42 reference apply throughout the 7th Pay Commission period.

See also

• Expected DA
• Dearness allowance
• AICPI-IW
• DA arrears calculator
• Dearness relief
• 7th Central Pay Commission
• 8th Central Pay Commission
• Pay matrix
• Take-home salary of central government employees
• 7th CPC salary calculator
• Central government employees in India

External references

• Labour Bureau (CPI-IW)
• Department of Expenditure
• Ministry of Labour and Employment
• Ministry of Finance