India Is Likely to Beat FY24 Dividend Target for State-Owned Companies by at Least Rs 12,000 Crore, According to Report

According to a government source with knowledge of the situation on Thursday, the Indian government is projected to surpass its fiscal year goal for dividends from state-run enterprises by at least Rs 12,000 crore ($1.4 billion), partially compensating an anticipated deficit from share sales.

According to the source, the dividend revenues might surpass both the government’s aim of 430 billion rupees for the April-March fiscal year and the 595 billion rupees it received in dividends the previous fiscal year. The range of receipts could be as high as 600 billion rupees.

Government data shows that India has collected 438 billion rupees (about Rs 43,800 crore) in dividends from state-owned companies as far this fiscal year.

The large dividend will help make up for the government’s income deficit from the sale of stock in state-run businesses.

According to the source, the government may not even be able to raise 300 billion rupees from share sales this fiscal year, which would represent a deficit of more than 40%.

The source claims that even with this, the government is likely to reach its 2023–24 budget deficit goal of 5.9% of GDP due to greater-than-expected tax collections.

In response to a message and email from Reuters requesting comment, India’s finance ministry did not immediately reply.

ICRA analyst Aditi Nayar projects a 300–400 billion rupee increase in net tax receipts for the government above the fiscal year budget objective.

From April to November, the Indian government’s net tax income came to 14.36 trillion rupees, or 62% of the goal for the year.