By IANS,
Shimla : Power utility Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (SJVNL) Saturday declared a dividend of Rs.330.93 crore for its shareholders for the fiscal 2010-11.
“The annual general meeting Friday passed the dividend of Rs.0.80 per equity share as against Rs.0.79 during the previous year,” the firm’s chairman and managing director R.P. Singh told reporters here.
He said in 2010-11, the company earned a profit before tax of Rs.1,156.20 crore against Rs.1,017.47 crore during the previous fiscal.
“Due to the higher provisions for tax of Rs.244.07 crore as compared to Rs.44.73 crore during the previous year, the net profit reduced to Rs.912.13 crore against Rs.972.74 crore. But the company decided to pay a higher dividend of Rs.330.93 crore as against Rs.328.20 crore in the previous year,” he said.
SJVNL, the sixth divestment deal of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in its second term, is a joint venture between the central and the Himachal Pradesh governments.
The central government sold 10 percent of its 74.5 percent stake in May this year.
The remaining 25.5 percent is held by the state government.
The profits of the power utility surged nearly 20 percent to Rs.348.21 crore for the first quarter of fiscal 2011-12.
The company owns and operates the 1,500 MW Nathpa-Jhakri hydropower project in Himachal Pradesh. Its second mega hydropower project, the 412 MW Rampur project in upper Shimla, is scheduled to be completed by September 2013.