Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: The Indian Government will likely exceed its fiscal year target for dividends from state-run companies by at least 120 billion rupees ($1.4 billion), partly offsetting an expected shortfall from share sales, a Government source aware of the matter said
The dividend receipts could range from 550 billion rupees to as much as 600 billion rupees, the source said, potentially topping not only the government’s target of 430 billion rupees for the April-March fiscal year but also the 595 billion rupees it collected in dividends last fiscal year.
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 300 billion rupees through stake sales this fiscal year, which will be an over-40% shortfall, the source said.
Still, the Government is likely to meet its fiscal deficit target of 5.9% of gross domestic product for 2023-24, as tax collection would be higher than projected, according to the source.
