India may surpass FY24 target for state-run firms' dividends by Rs 12K-cr

The Indian government will likely exceed its fiscal year target for dividends from state-run companies by at least Rs 12,000 crore ($1.4 billion), partly offsetting an expected shortfall from share sales, a government source aware of the matter said on Thursday.
 

The dividend receipts could range from Rs 55,000 crore to as much as Rs 60,000 crore, the source said, potentially topping not only the government's target of Rs 43,000 crore for the April-March fiscal year but also the Rs 59,500 crore it collected in dividends last fiscal year.
 

So far this fiscal, India has received Rs 43,800 crore in dividends from state-owned firms, according government data.
 

The high dividend will partly offset the shortfall in government's revenue from sale of equity in state-run enterprises.
 

The government may not be able to mop up even Rs 30,000 crore through stake sales this fiscal year, which will be an over-40 per cent shortfall, the source said.
 

Still, the government is likely to meet its fiscal deficit target of 5.9 per cent of gross domestic product for 2023-24, as tax collection would be higher than projected, according to the source.
 

India's finance ministry did not immediately respond to a mail and message sent by Reuters seeking comment.
 

Aditi Nayar, an economist at ICRA, expects the government's net tax revenues to exceed the fiscal year budget target by Rs 30,000 crore -Rs 40,000 crore.
 

The Indian government collected Rs 14.36 trillion as net tax revenue in April-November, 62 per cent of the annual target.