New Steel Minister okays wage revision in SAIL, 85k to benefit

Steel Min approved a 17% hike in basic and dearness allowances and 6% rise in perks for the company's non-executive employees

State-run SAIL's around 85,000 non-executives will soon get higher pay packages as the Steel Ministry has approved the long-pending wage revision in the Mahanratna company.

Steel Minister Narendra Singh Tomar last evening approved a 17% hike in basic and dearness allowances and 6% rise in perks for the company's non-executive employees, sources said.

Wage revision in the steel major, due every five years, has been pending since January, 2012 owing to differences on the extent of hike between the management and its unions' umbrella body National Joint Committee for Steel (NJCS).

After long negotiations with unions, SAIL had agreed to the wage revision, incurring an additional burden of around Rs 1,000 crore annually, a SAIL official said.

Following the Ministry's approval, SAIL would now sign an agreement with the employees and within a month of that the revision would be implemented.

Initially, union representatives involved in the wage revision talks were demanding a 21.6% hike, similar to the rise in 2007, in basic and dearness allowances.

The management said given the current market condition for steel in which consumption grew by just 0.6% in the 2013-14, an encore of 2007 is not possible.

Since the revision has been pending for nearly two-and-a half month now, sources said the immediate outgo will be over Rs 2,300 crore. SAIL has already made the required provisions for paying out majority of the arrears.