Representative image showing notes of Indian rupees.
Credit: iStock Photo
New Delhi: Indian government will likely exceed its fiscal year target for dividends from state-run companies by at least 12,000 crore rupees ($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 55,000 crore rupees to as much as 60000 crore rupees, the source said, potentially topping not only the government's target of 43,000 crore rupees for the April-March fiscal year but also the 59,500 crore rupees it collected in dividends last fiscal year.
So far, this fiscal, India has received 43,800 crore rupees in dividends from state-owned firms, according to 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 30000 crore rupees 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 30000 crore rupees to 40000 crore rupees.
The Indian government collected crore rupees as net tax revenue in April-November, 62 per cent of the annual target.
($1 = 83.2570 Indian rupees)