CM Sukhu Chairs HPSFDCL Board Meet, Clears DA Hike
Synopsis
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu chaired HPSFDCL's 216th board meeting on 3 July 2026, approving a 3% DA hike for employees, bonuses for 175 workers, regularisation of daily-wage and contract staff, a minimum daily wage rise to Rs 450, and modernisation of the Nahan R&T factory.
Key Takeaways
3 per cent dearness allowance hike approved for all HPSFDCL employees, effective 1 April 2025 .
175 employees earning up to Rs 21,000 per month will receive a bonus.
Daily-wage workers completing 240 days of work per year for four consecutive years will be regularised under a 1 April 2026 notification.
Eligible contract employees will also be regularised under the same board resolution.
Minimum daily wage raised from Rs 425 to Rs 450 across worker categories.
Nahan R&T factory modernisation approved to replicate revenue gains seen at the Bilaspur plant.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Friday, 3 July 2026, chaired the 216th board meeting of the Himachal Pradesh State Forest Development Corporation Limited (HPSFDCL), approving a package of labour welfare measures including a dearness allowance hike, bonus payments, worker regularisation, and a minimum daily wage revision for corporation employees.
Key Decisions
The board approved a 3 per cent increase in dearness allowance for HPSFDCL employees, effective 1 April 2025. Additionally, 175 employees drawing a monthly salary of up to Rs 21,000 will receive a bonus under the revised norms.
In a significant move for long-serving workers, the board cleared the regularisation of daily-wage employees who have completed 240 working days per year for each of the past four years, in line with a notification issued on 1 April 2026. The regularisation of eligible contract employees was also approved at the same meeting.
The minimum daily wage for workers across various categories was raised from Rs 425 to Rs 450, a hike of approximately 5.9 per cent.
Context
HPSFDCL is a state-owned public sector undertaking responsible for harvesting and processing forest produce — chiefly resin and turpentine — from Himachal Pradesh's extensive pine forests. The corporation employs a mix of regular, contract, and daily-wage staff across its operations and processing units.
Regularisation of daily-wage workers completing a minimum threshold of working days annually has a long policy lineage in Himachal Pradesh, tracing back to state notifications and judicial directions from the 2000s and 2010s. The current move brings the corporation's workforce policy into alignment with those precedents.
Policy Backdrop
Chief Minister Sukhu also reviewed the operational performance of the corporation's Resin and Turpentine (R&T) factories. The meeting noted a 'ullekhaniya vriddhi' (notable increase) in revenue from the Bilaspur R&T factory following its modernisation, and the board extended congratulations to all stakeholders involved.
Building on that success, the board decided to undertake modernisation of the Nahan R&T factory in Sirmaur district, with the stated goal of further improving productivity and revenue generation. Nahan is among the older processing centres in the corporation's network, and its upgrade is expected to mirror the gains recorded at Bilaspur.
Stakeholders and Impact
The decisions directly benefit the corporation's workforce: the DA hike and bonus announcement provide immediate financial relief, while regularisation offers job security to workers who have sustained employment over multiple years. The daily-wage minimum wage revision from Rs 425 to Rs 450 brings the floor rate closer to broader minimum wage benchmarks in the state.
Kehar Singh Khachi, Vice Chairman of HPSFDCL, and other senior officials were present at the meeting. The decisions reflect the Sukhu government's broader approach of combining incremental labour welfare measures with targeted industrial modernisation within state PSUs, even as the state manages fiscal pressures.
What's Next
Attention will now shift to the rollout of regularisation orders and wage revision notifications, and to the timeline and scope of the Nahan factory modernisation project. A follow-up board review is expected to assess revenue outcomes once the upgrade is underway. Progress on actual implementation of the 1 April 2025 DA arrears and the bonus disbursement will be closely watched by the corporation's employee unions.
Point of View
Bundling DA hikes, regularisation, and wage revisions into a single high-profile announcement. The decision to regularise daily-wage workers who have completed 240 days annually for four years is politically significant — it addresses a long-standing demand of organised labour in Himachal Pradesh and pre-empts potential litigation. Pairing these welfare measures with the Nahan factory modernisation announcement allows the government to project fiscal prudence alongside worker-friendly optics. Cumulatively, these moves reinforce the Congress government's narrative of pro-worker governance ahead of any future electoral cycle in the state.
NationPress
3 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What decisions were taken at the HPSFDCL 216th board meeting?
The board approved a 3 per cent DA hike for employees from April 2025, bonus payments for 175 workers earning up to Rs 21,000 per month, regularisation of daily-wage and contract employees, a minimum daily wage increase from Rs 425 to Rs 450, and the modernisation of the Nahan Resin and Turpentine factory.
Who chaired the HPSFDCL board meeting on 3 July 2026?
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu chaired the 216th board meeting of the Himachal Pradesh State Forest Development Corporation Limited on 3 July 2026.
Which HPSFDCL employees will be regularised?
Daily-wage employees who have completed 240 working days per year for each of the past four years, in line with the 1 April 2026 notification, and eligible contract employees will both be regularised under the board's decision.
What is the new minimum daily wage for HPSFDCL workers?
The minimum daily wage for workers across various categories in HPSFDCL has been raised from Rs 425 to Rs 450, an increase of approximately 5.9 per cent.
What is the Nahan R&T factory and why is it being modernised?
The Nahan Resin and Turpentine factory, located in Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh, is an HPSFDCL processing unit. The board approved its modernisation to boost productivity and revenue, following the success of a similar upgrade at the Bilaspur R&T factory.
