SAIL pays Rs 638.04 cr as final dividend to Govt for FY 08

New Delhi, Nov 6 (UNI) Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan today handed over a cheque for Rs 638.04 crore to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as final dividend to the Union Government for FY '08 on behalf of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).

The total final dividend paid by SAIL to its shareholders for FY '08 amounts to Rs 743.47 crore, equalling 18 per cent of the company's paid-up equity capital of Rs 4130.4 crore, of which 85.82 per cent is held by the Government.

SAIL had earlier paid interim dividend @ 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 1528.25 crore is the highest ever since the company's incorporation.

SAIL's contribution to the national exchequer (towards excise and custom duties, corporate tax, dividend and dividend tax has been to the order of over Rs 13,600 crore during 2007-08.

SAIL has regularly and consistently been paying dividend to its shareholders since 2004-05. Out of total dividend of Rs 5963.82 crore since 1991-92 which is about 145 per cent of paid-up equity capital, a sum of Rs 5149.59 crore has been paid to the Govenment as its share of dividend.

The financial health of SAIL has been further strengthened during the current financial year with the company's net worth rising to around Rs 27,000 crore as on September 30th, this year.

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