New Delhi: State-run steel maker SAIL has informed the government that it is not in a position to pay dividend for 2017-18 as it suffered a loss of Rs 281 crore in the fiscal, an official said.
"When the government which is a major shareholder in SAIL asked the PSU that whether it was giving dividend the steel major said that at present it is not in net profit," the official said.
For giving dividend, the company first has to come to profit, the official added.
"Being a shareholder, the government will definitely ask the PSU are you going to give dividend? They are not saying that give dividend," the official said further.
A SAIL spokesperson said, "Since we were at loss in 2017-18 we not in a position to pay dividend for the fiscal."
For the current fiscal, the government expects to garner Rs 52,494 crore as dividend from CPSEs.
According to the government guidelines on payment of dividends, the company is required to pay a minimum annual dividend of 30 per cent of Profit After Tax or five per cent of the Networth, whichever is higher.
In case, the company is not able to comply with the guidelines, specific exemption has to be obtained from the Department of Investment & Public Asset Management (DIPAM).
SAIL had been exempted from dividend payment in 2015-16 and 2016-17 financial years due to weak financial performance. Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) had reported a consolidated loss of Rs 2,756 crore in 2016-17.
Keeping in view the adverse financial position of the PSU due to losses, the company has been exempted from payment of dividend for the financial years 2015-16 and 2016-17, SAIL had said in its Annual Report 2017-18.
For the financial year 2017-18, the company has again taken up with the DIPAM for exemption from payment of dividend, it had said.
In the Budget document of 2018-19, the government had estimated Rs 54,810 crore as dividend from Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) in 2017-18.
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