New Delhi: The Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved the release of an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners w.e.f. 01.01.2017.Increase is by two percent over the existing rate of two percent of the basic pay/pension to compensate for price rise.This increase is in accordance with the accepted formula, which is based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission.The combined impact on the exchequer on account of both Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief would be Rs. 5,857.28 crore per annum and Rs.6,833.50 crore in the Financial Year 2017-18 (for a period of 14 months from January, 2017 to February, 2018).This will benefit about 48.85 lakh Central Government employees and 55.51 lakh pensioners.