Assam raised the statutory minimum daily wage for its tea-garden workers by Rs 30 from April 1, taking Brahmaputra Valley pay to Rs 280 a day and Barak Valley pay to Rs 258.

The revision, notified by the state's Department of Labour Welfare, follows a Minimum Wages Advisory Board recommendation on February 26 and is described in the notification as an interim increase, Business Standard and The Sentinel reported. It applies to large and small gardens in both valleys.

Brahmaputra Valley pay has moved from Rs 205 a day in 2021 to Rs 232 in 2022, Rs 250 in 2023 and Rs 280 now; Barak Valley pay from Rs 183 to Rs 210, Rs 228 and Rs 258 over the same steps, according to figures published by The Sentinel. It is the first rise since October 2023, and the state government puts the cumulative increase since 2021 at more than 40%.

Field and plucking labour is among the largest operating costs a tea garden carries, and a statutory floor sets what every estate must pay before a kilogram of the crop reaches the auction. The rise is set by valley, not by garden, so it reaches the whole of Assam's organised and small-holding tea alike.

The word "interim" signals more to come. Business Standard reported that Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma indicated daily wages could cross Rs 300 once the Centre's new Labour Codes are implemented. The state has not set a date for that revision.

The auction can move a garden's tea. It cannot move its payroll.

Sources: Business Standard, Hike in Assam tea garden workers' daily wage by Rs 30 from Apr 1 (March 10, 2026); The Sentinel, Assam Tea Garden Workers to Get Rs 280 Daily Wage in Brahmaputra Valley From April 1 (March 11, 2026).