New Delhi, Apr 02, 2025, IANS

New Delhi, April 2 (IANS) The government has received a record Rs 74,016 crore as dividends from Central public sector enterprises in financial year 2024-25 which is 16 per cent higher than the corresponding figure of Rs 63,749.3 crore in 2023-24, according to the latest data compiled by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management. The total dividend that has accrued to the Centre in the financial year ended on March 31, 2025, has also shot past the Budget's revised estimate of Rs 55,000 crore. The highest contributors were Coal India Ltd at Rs 10,252 crore, followed by upstream giant Oil and Natural Gas Corp with a payment of Rs 10,002 crore and downstream oil marketing company Bharat Petroleum Corp with Rs 3,562.47 crore at the third position. Telecommunications Consultants (India) at Rs 3,761.50 crore and Hindustan Zinc Ltd. at Rs 3,619.06 crore also figure among the top contributors to the national exchequer. Each PSU is required to pay a minimum annual dividend of 30 of its profit after tax (PAT) or 4 per cent of its net worth. For PSUs operating in the financial sector, such as non-banking financial companies, the minimum annual dividend has been set at 30 per cent of net profit. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the revised estimate of Rs 55,000 crore for dividend collection from Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) in the fiscal year 2024-2025. The government has projected an even higher dividend collection from public sector undertakings for the financial year 2025-26 at an estimated target of Rs 69,000 crore. The Centre also expects to receive Rs 2.56 lakh crore from the Reserve Bank of India and public sector banks in the financial year 2025-26, Finance Minister Sitharaman said in her Budget speech on February 1 this year. The dividend targeted for 2025-26 is higher than the RBI’s contribution of Rs 2.1 lakh crore for 2024-2025, which had turned out to be double the total dividend budgeted for the year. The RBI dividend is a major source of revenue for the government and helps to keep the fiscal deficit in check. Central public sector enterprises now have to pay 4 per cent of their net worth as dividends, as compared to 5 per cent earlier. For public sector NBFCs, the net worth criterion has been dropped, but the 30 per cent of net profit norm for minimum annual dividend has stayed.