The Indian government will likely exceed its fiscal year target for dividends from state-run companies by at least ₹120 billion ($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 ₹550 billion to as much as ₹600 billion, the source said, potentially topping not only the government's target of ₹430 billion for the April-March fiscal year but also the ₹595 billion it collected in dividends last fiscal.
So far this fiscal, India has received ₹438 billion 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 ₹300 billion through stake sales this fiscal year, which will be a more than 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.
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 ₹300 billion-₹400 billion.
The Indian government collected ₹14.36 trillion as net tax revenue in April-November, 62% of the annual target.
Published - January 04, 2024 08:00 pm IST
