SAIL pays Rs 638.04 cr dividend for FY'08

NEW DELHI: Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Thursday handed over a dividend cheque of Rs 638.04 crore to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on behalf of the Steel Authority of India.

With this the steel behemoth has paid a total sum of Rs 743.47 crore for 2007-08, to the government, the largest shareholder of the company, a SAIL release said here said.

The total final dividend paid by SAIL to its shareholders for FY 2008 equals 18 per cent of the company's paid-up equity capital of Rs 4,130.4 crore. The PSU said it had earlier paid interim dividend at 19 per cent of paid-up equity amounting to Rs 784.78 crore, of which the Government's share was Rs 673.49 crore.

"Thus, total dividend payment at the rate of 37 per cent amounting to Rs 1,528.25 crore is the highest ever since the company's incorporation," it added. SAIL's contribution to the national exchequer through excise and custom duties, corporate tax, dividend, dividend tax among other means stood over Rs 13,600 crore during the financial year, it added.

Out of total dividend of Rs 5,963.82 crore paid since 1991-92, which is about 145 per cent of the paid-up equity capital, an over all sum of Rs 5,149.59 crore has been paid to the government as its share of dividend, it added.
Steel Secretary P K Rastogi, SAIL Chairman S K Roongta and other senior officials were also present on the occasion.