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ONGC declares interim dividend of 250 %

New Delhi, December 23, 2005

An interim dividend of 250 per cent (Rs. 25 per share), was declared by the Board of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC) in its meeting.

The interim dividend of 250 per cent in the current fiscal is 50 per cent higher compared to the interim dividend of last fiscal 2004-05. In FY 2004-05, ONGC had declared an interim dividend of 200 per cent and a total dividend of 400 per cent amounting to Rs. 5704 Crore.

In absolute terms, this interim dividend works out to a pay-out of Rs. 3564.82 Crore (against a paid-up capital of Rs. 1425.93 Crore), including Government of India share (74.13%) of Rs. 2642.60 Crore. This is the highest-ever interim dividend paid by ONGC.

In addition, ONGC will be paying a dividend tax on the above, which works out to be Rs. 500 Crore.

It has also been decided to pay the dividend immediately after the record date of 28th December 2005, without waiting for the mandatory 30 days period.

The net profit (PAT) for the half-year for FY 2005-06 is Rs. 7457 Crore, as against Rs. 5692 Crore for corresponding period previous year.

Speaking on the occasion, C&MD of ONGC Mr. Subir Raha said that notwithstanding the continuing uncertainty on impact of subsidies from ONGC  to downstream marketing PSUs, the Board decided to positively respond to shareholders' expectations in a regime of firm crude oil prices.

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