Over 1.6 million employees working in the estimated 240 central public sector undertakings (PSUs) are likely to receive a 50 to 60 per cent salary increase, possibly with retrospective effect from January 2006.

The second PSU pay revision committee, headed by former Supreme Court Justice M Jagannadha Rao, is in advanced stages of finalising its award due April-end and plans to submit its report to the government soon after.

Officials in the know of the committee deliberations added that two chapters of the report have already been finalised.

A committee member told Business Standard that PSU salaries cannot be equated with government wages as the public sector has to compete with private companies that offer much higher compensation.

"The sixth Pay Commission report has also said that PSU salaries should not be linked to government. We are taking a realistic view of the situation," he said.

On public sector companies' demand for a 100 per cent increase, the member said the committee "would take into account all such demands".

"In 1997, when PSU pays were last revised, the hike in some scales was as much as 68 per cent. This time I expect a raise of 55 to 60 per cent, especially because of the overall growth in PSU profitability," a serving director of a top-ranked PSU said.

By this reckoning, the chairman of a schedule A (top-ranked navratnas like IndianOil, ONGC [Get Quote] and NTPC, among others) central PSU, whose annual cost to company (CTC) works out to Rs 12 lakh to Rs 14 lakh, could earn a gross Rs 20 lakh after the award.

This will be far in excess of what an additional secretary in the government of India will get on account of the new Pay Commission award.

At the bottom of the PSU pay scale, an entry level attendant in a leading power PSU has a CTC of around Rs 22,000 per month, which could go up to Rs 33,000.

Constituted in November 2006, the committee was given 18 months to submit its report. The members include Nitish Sengupta, chairman, Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises; P C Parakh, former secretary, Department of Coal; and R S S L N Bhaskarudu, former director, Maruti Udyog Ltd [Get Quote] and former chairman, Public Enterprises Selection Board.