India Inc's dividend pay at record high

In the past 5 years, payout has grown at 11.9% every year; net profit has declined at a rate of 0.6%

Corporate India is using higher dividends to reward shareholders, even as earnings growth remains elusive. The dividend payout ratio for the country’s top listed companies reached an all-time high of 40.5 per cent in FY16, from the low of 20 per cent in FY08. 

In the past five years, the total dividend payout has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 11.9 per cent, against a 0.6 per cent annualised decline in reported net profit during the period. In all, shareholders earned Rs 1.56 lakh crore as equity dividend in FY16 — nearly double of Rs 89,000-crore dividend payout