Maruti Suzuki on Tuesday hiked salaries of its workers by an average of Rs 18,000 to Rs 21,000 per month, reaching a wage settlement agreement with worker-unions.

Maruti Suzuki Chief Operating Officer S Y Siddiqui confirmed that they managed to finalise the wage increases for both Gurgaon and Manesar plants of the company. The agreement was reached after 40 meetings between the representatives of the management and leaders of the worker-union.

Workers at the Gurgaon plant will get an average salary hike around Rs 18,000 per month. Kuldeep Janghu, General Secretary of Maruti Udyog Kamgar Union, welcomed the agreement and said that the agreement showed that any issue between the management and workers could be settled through dialogue.

Speaking about the development, Janghu said, "We have reached an agreement with the management for our wages. The agreement shows that any issue between the workers and management could be settled through dialogue."

The three-year agreement will be implemented with retrospective effect from April 2012. According to the terms of the agreement, 80 per cent of the hiked salary will be given to workers in the first year and the rest in the subsequent two years.

Siddiqui said that the management hiked the salaries according to the company's labour cost plan.

Following the hike in salaries, Maruti workers will be among best paid workers in India.