WAJAHAT SHABIR
SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir recorded an overall shadow wage rate factor (SWRF) of 0.47 for unskilled labour in 2023–24, according to the report Reassessment of National Parameters for Appraisal of Public Investment Programmes/Projects in India.
The study, supported by NITI Aayog, places the rural factor for Jammu and Kashmir at 0.36 and the urban factor at 0.96. The report lists the average daily wage for unskilled labour in the Union Territory at ₹162 in rural areas and ₹554 in urban areas. The rural working-population share is estimated at 81.01%, while the urban share stands at 18.99%.
The report also provides separate estimates for male and female unskilled workers. For male workers, it lists a rural daily wage of ₹162 and an urban daily wage of ₹564, with corresponding shadow wage rate factors of 0.36 and 0.96, respectively. The combined factor for male workers is 0.47. For female workers, the report records a rural daily wage of ₹343 and an urban daily wage of ₹498, with factors of 0.78 and 0.96, respectively, resulting in an overall factor of 0.81.
The study presents historical data for Jammu and Kashmir from 2019–20 to 2022–23. The overall shadow wage rate factor stood at 0.97 in 2019–20 and 2020–21, declined to 0.85 in 2021–22, and increased to 1.00 in 2022–23 before falling to 0.47 in 2023–24. During the same period, the rural factor moved from 1.00 in 2019–20 to 0.96 in 2020–21, 0.81 in 2021–22 and 1.00 in 2022–23, before dropping to 0.36 in 2023–24. The urban factor stood at 0.87 in 2019–20 and 1.00 in each of the following three years, before declining to 0.96 in 2023–24.
The shadow wage rate factor measures the estimated economic opportunity cost of employing labour in public investment projects relative to the applicable minimum wage. The study explains that these factors can be used to assess labour costs in project appraisal. However, the report contains differing rural wage figures across its overall and gender-specific tables, which should be verified against the original tables before publication.
The study, titled Reassessment of National Parameters for Appraisal of Public Investment Programmes/Projects in India, aims to establish economic parameters for evaluating public investment projects and programmes. It examines the economic cost of resources used in projects, including labour, to help determine their actual economic value beyond prevailing market prices.
The study assesses wage rates and Shadow Wage Rate Factors (SWRF) across rural and urban areas, including differences between male and female workers and variations across states and Union Territories. These estimates are intended to support policymakers in assessing project costs, economic viability and the efficient allocation of public investment.
