Chart of the day: Why Maruti's record wage hike may not stall its growth plan

After grappling with recurring labour problems for the last couple of years, the car maker has hiked salaries by an average 75%, making Maruti workers among the highest paid in the manufacturing sector. “In terms of the basic budget plans, which we initiated in April 2012, I think we will be well within our range of 2.5-2.6% labour cost compared to the sales turnover. That is very much part of our budget plan in April 2012,” said, SY Siddiqui, Managing Executive Officer (Administration), Maruti Suzuki. The adjoining graph shows how labour cost as a proportion of revenues has been steadily inching up over the last five years.