Top 20 Indian Companies pay Rs 18,000 Cr dividend

Data on top 20 dividend paying Indian companies show that for the financial year 2007- 2008, nearly Rs 18,000 crore have been handed over to their shareholders. Of these, the top five PSU and have distributed about Rs 9,000 crore and private corporate houses Rs 6,000 crore. Since under the current tax rules, dividends are tax free in the hands of the receiver, market players say this is a real wealth in the hands of investors.

Despite rising interest rates and input costs, most of the leading corporates have declared strong quarterly and annual numbers. The buoyancy in their performance and confident business outlook have allowed a large number of companies to be generous with dividend distribution, running into thousands of crores, market players said.

Among the PSUs, it is the navaratna companies which have given handsome dividends, which in a major way filled up the government’s coffers, other than paying its non-government shareholders. And among the private companies and corporate houses, other than the traditional frontline entities like Reliance (Mukesh Ambani and ADAG) groups, Tatas, Birlas and ITC, the Indiabulls group stands out for its huge payout to its shareholders. The group’s total payout of Rs 731 crore for financial year 2007-08 is about 60% of its full year net profit.