BHEL pays Rs 406 cr dividend to govt for 2006-07

NEW DELHI: Power equipment supplier Bharat Heavy Electricals has paid a final dividend of Rs 406 crore to the government for the year 2006-07.

Of the amount, Rs 207.2 crore has already been paid to the government as interim dividend.

BHEL CMD Ashok K Puri on Saturday handed over a cheque of Rs 198.9 crore to Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Sector Enterprises Sontosh Mohan Dev.

The company declared an overall dividend of Rs 600 crore to its shareholders.

"This is the highest ever dividend at 245 per cent of equity we have paid. The government has 67.72 equity holding in the company and its share of dividend for 2006-07 stands at Rs 406 crore," Puri told reporters here.

The company posted a 44 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 2,415 crore in 2006-07. Its turnover rose 29 per cent to Rs 18,739 crore during the year.

BHEL has issued bonus shares to its shareholders in the ratio of 1:1. It envisages to enhance its manufacturing capacity to 15,000 in the next three years.