ET 500: TCS, Infosys, ITC, HUL among top 10 dividend paying companies

Public sector undertakings have traditionally been high dividend payers and, therefore, it is not surprising that three of the top five dividends paying companies are PSUs. Companies from high cash-generating sectors such as IT ( TCS and Infosys) and FMCG ( ITC and HUL) are prominent members of the top 10 club.

Pharma company Strides Arcolab is an accidental entrant in the top 10 club as it distributed the proceeds of the sale of its injectables business. While Coal India paid double the dividend that it paid in the previous year, HUL was the only company in the top 10 club whose dividend paid dropped 30% over the previous year.

The dividend paid hardly changed over a year ago in case of ONGC, NTPC and Reliance Industries. It grew more than 45% in case of IT majors TCS and Infosys. The top 10 dividend paying companies contributed 45% to the total dividend paid by ET500 companies for fiscal year 2014.