India expects to receive a record 3.16 trillion rupees ($34.4 billion) in dividends from its central bank and state-owned financial institutions in the fiscal year starting in April, according to budget documents tabled in the Parliament on Sunday.
That would mark about a 3.6% rise from the current financial year’s revised budget estimate of 3.05 trillion rupees.
Last year, the Reserve Bank of India alone transferred 2.69 trillion rupees to the government. The estimate for 2026-27 is in line with economists’ expectation of 3.2 trillion rupees in a Bloomberg survey, most of it expected from the RBI.
Photo Credit: (Photo: Bloomberg)
The funds would be crucial for the government to meet its spending needs while keeping the fiscal deficit within 4.3% of gross domestic product, as projected by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech.
The RBI makes an annual payout to the government from the surplus income earned from investments and valuation changes on its foreign exchange holdings, including the dollar, and the fees it gets from printing currency notes.
The RBI has been gaining by selling dollars to support the Indian currency, which fell nearly 5% in 2025. The central bank also earns through investing in bonds and deposits issued by other sovereigns, such as the US treasuries.
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