New Delhi, July 27 -- A significant number of India's public service employees are set to benefit from their various state governments' announcements on Dearness Allowance (DA) hikes. The Centre hiked DA by 2% in April, from 58% of basic pay to 60%, effective from 1 January this year.

The Centre usually updates DA biannually using data from the All-India Consumer Price Index (AICPI), new announcements are made in March and October, with rollouts in January and July. The move is aimed at countering the increasing cost of living expenses for employees and pensioners amid rising inflation.

More than one crore beneficiaries - about 50 lakh central government employees and nearly 65 lakh central government pensioners, including defence perso...