Comments
The Centre has pocketed over ₹2.73 lakh crore from Central PSUS in the energy sector through mechanisms such as dividends, strategic disinvestments, minority sales and buybacks, an analysis done by BusinessLine shows.
These receipts do not include tax revenues, which have been a favourite source of income for the current government.
According to BSE data, dividends from listed energy PSUs have contributed over ₹1.51 lakh crore to the exchequer from FY14 to FY19. The Centre’s mop-up through dividend payments from oil companies (both upstream and downstream) stood at ₹69,513 crore. From power companies (including Coal India Ltd), it got ₹81,133 crore.
The Centre also made exceptional gains by selling stakes worth ₹70,870 crore in Coal India, IndianOil, NHPC, NTPC, Oil India, ONGC, Power Finance Corporation, PowerGrid, Rural Electrification Corporation and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam in those five years. Stake sale through the CPSE ETF route is not included in these calculations.
Strategic disinvestments through the HPCL-ONGC and the PFC-REC deals have, in toto, earned the exchequer over ₹51,414 crore.
Payout bonanza
Were it not for the dividend gains from energy PSUs, the Centre would have missed its fiscal deficit goals in each of the five financial years.
In FY15 and FY16, energy companies contributed ₹23,416 crore and ₹28,387 crore, respectively, to the exchequer.
In the next three fiscals, the amounts stood at ₹36,491 crore, ₹31,494 crore and ₹30,855 crore, respectively.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.