Despite COVID crisis, PSU dividend receipts exceed revised estimate & FY20 collection

• Total dividend receipts from CPSEs in FY21 have touched Rs 39,022 crore

• The revised estimate for PSU dividend receipts for FY21 was Rs 34,717 crore

New Delhi: The PSU dividend receipts for FY21 have not just exceeded the revised estimate for FY21 but are also higher when compared to the previous financial year. In a tweet, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Wednesday, "Total dividend receipts from CPSEs in FY 2020-21 have touched Rs 39,022 crore, which exceeds the Revised Estimate (RE) of Rs 34,717 crore, and is more than actual dividend receipts (Rs 35,543 crore) during the previous financial year."

In a year marred by economic slowdown induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, PSUs have paid multiple interim dividends to the government to make up for the revenue shortfall. 

Govt announced 'consistent dividend policy' for PSUs

On March 10, the DIPAM Secretary had said that the government had introduced a new 'consistent dividend policy' under which public sector undertakings (PSUs) will be paying between two to four interim dividends in a financial year to ensure continuity of dividends for shareholders. "We have announced a consistent dividend policy, therefore dividends are ensured. The dividend policy has been further fine-tuned to say that we need not wait for annual dividend, and we can have as many as four interim dividends in every quarter in some of the companies or maybe twice in a year," the Secretary had said. He explained that a consistent dividend policy is something that rewards shareholders which include insurance companies, mutual funds.

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The official direction prompted PSUs to reach out into their treasuries and deliver dividends to stakeholders, resulting in a higher PSU dividend yield for the government in FY21 despite the economic crisis induced by the pandemic. A number of PSUs declared interims dividends in this financial year. The list of such PSUs include Power Grid, Coal India Ltd (CIL), RITES Limited, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), GAIL, Power Finance Corporation (PFC), Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), National Aluminium Company (NALCO), REC Limited, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, IRCON International, ONGC, IRFC, among others.

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