Govt to get `17,308 cr interim dividend from Coal India Ltd

The Government will get Rs 17,308 crore in interim dividend from Coal India Ltd (CIL) as it seeks to explore more options to garner non-tax revenue. CIL on Saturday declared an interim dividend of Rs 27.40 per share and the total outgo will be Rs 20,830 crore, including dividend tax. The largest beneficiary will be the Union Government, which holds 79.64 per cent and will get a dividend of Rs 17,308 crore. The Government has been able to mobilise a little over Rs 18,300 crore from divestment till February this fiscal against a target of Rs 69,500 crore due to volatility in stock markets.

It asked CIL, National Aluminium Co Ltd (Nalco), NMDC Ltd and MOIL Ltd to buy back shares or announce additional dividend on top of the mandated 30 per cent. The government has raised Rs 18,330 crore so far this fiscal through disinvestment in six PSUs — NTPC (Rs 5,030 crore), Rural Electrification Corp (Rs 1,608 crore), Power Finance Corp (Rs 1,671 crore), Dredging Corp of India Ltd (Rs 53.33 crore), Indian Oil Corp (Rs 9,369 crore) and Engineers India Ltd (Rs 640 crore).