CPSEs’ dividend, stake sale, InvIT boosted non-tax revenue to over ₹77,000 crore

The Budget set a target of ₹69,000 crore from CPSE dividends and ₹47,000 crore via Miscellaneous Capital Receipts. 
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PRAKASH SINGH

Despite sluggish tax collections, the Finance Ministry may find relief in robust returns from Central Public Sector Enterprises’ (CPSEs) dividends and asset monetisation. The government has already secured over ₹77,000 crore toward its ₹1.16 lakh crore target, driven primarily by state-run dividends. Officials are optimistic that dividend receipts will ultimately exceed initial projections.

The Budget set a target of ₹69,000 crore from CPSE dividends and ₹47,000 crore via Miscellaneous Capital Receipts. To date, dividend collections have reached ₹49,600 crore, accounting for roughly 72 per cent of the Budget Estimate (BE). Officials anticipate that total receipts will not only exceed the BE but likely surpass the ₹70,000 crore mark.

The oil, power, and coal sectors remain the primary contributors to the dividend pool.

Under the government’s revised 2024 policy, CPSEs are required to pay a minimum annual dividend of either 30 per cent of profit after tax (PAT) or 4 per cent of their net worth, whichever is higher, subject to any existing legal limits. For financial sector CPSEs, such as NBFCs, the policy mandates a minimum annual dividend of 30 per cent of PAT, also contingent upon applicable legal provisions.

The 2024 revision marks a significant shift from the previous policy, which required CPSEs to pay the higher of 30 per cent of PAT or 30 per cent of the government’s equity. Under the old framework, the government also evaluated a CPSE’s cash and free reserves to mandate special dividends as a return on its equity investments. In contrast, the new guidelines pivot toward net worth as a key benchmark, requiring the higher of 30 per cent of PAT or 4 per cent of net worth, while maintaining a consistent 30 per cent PAT floor for financial sector CPSEs like NBFCs.

Miscellaneous Capital Receipts

Not using the word ‘disinvestment’, the stake sales in CPSEs are mentioned under the head ‘Miscellaneous Capital Receipts’. While stake sale and remittance from Specified Undertaking of The Unit Trust of India (SUUTI) gave over ₹8,700 crore, over ₹18,800 crore InvIT earnings took the total mop-up to ₹27,600 crore or 59 per cent of the budget proceeds.

Published on January 20, 2026