Karnataka's 60% minimum wage hike sets Bengaluru floor at ₹23,376/month, squeezing retail labour budgets
The state notification covers 81 scheduled employments, lifting unskilled wages to ₹23,376 and skilled to ₹31,114 in Bengaluru, plus a ₹1,030 VDA. Stores, warehouses and QSR operators face immediate cost pressure on frontline payrolls across Karnataka.
Karnataka has notified a 60% minimum wage hike, setting Bengaluru's floor at ₹23,376/month for unskilled and ₹31,114 for skilled workers across 81 scheduled employments — raising store, warehouse and QSR labour costs for retailers operating in the state.
Why this matters
The notification marks one of India's steepest state-level wage resets, directly hitting Bengaluru's retail, QSR and warehousing operators who rely on dense frontline workforces and thin store-level margins.
Retail-company signals steady at 1,041 over the last 90 days, with labour-cost shocks emerging as a recurring theme.