Billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta has announced the fifth interim dividend of ₹20.50 per share after the board approved the proposal in a meeting held on Tuesday. The dividend payout will lead to a cash outgo of ₹7,621 crore.

The record date for the purpose of payment of dividend has been fixed as April 7. The new dividend will be in addition to ₹81 per share in dividends the firm has announced so far in this fiscal.

Total outgo

Along with the fifth payout, the total outgo as dividend from the company accounts for ₹37,733 crore. Promoters, who hold 69.69 per cent stake in Vedanta, will get about ₹26,400 crore.

The last dividend of ₹12.50 a share was announced during the third quarter results. It led to outflow of ₹4,647 crore.

The third interim dividend of ₹17.50 per share in November was amounting to a ₹6,505 crore outflow.

Also read: Hindustan Zinc: The story behind the outsized dividend

Last July, the company paid ₹19.50 a share as second interim dividend amounting to ₹7,250 crore.

The first interim dividend of ₹31.50 a share was paid at the start of the fiscal in April. It drained off ₹11,710 crore.

As of quarter ended last December, Vedanta had cash and cash equivalents of ₹23,474 crore and gross debt of ₹61,550 crore on a consolidated basis.

The cash cow Vedanta has been announcing dividends liberally to enhance the cash flow of the parent company, Vedanta Resources, for reducing debt.

Earlier, Vedanta Resources attempted to sell its global zinc assets to group company Hindustan Zinc for $2.98 billion to repay debt. However, the government which holds 30 per cent stake in Hindustan Zinc had opposed the move.

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