RBI to pay record Rs 2.69 lakh crore dividend to central government: Key things to know

The RBI on Friday decided to pay a record dividend of Rs 2,68,590.1 crore to the central government. The announcement was made after the RBI board cleared the payout at its 616th meeting held under the chairmanship of Governor Sanjay Malhotra on the same day in Mumbai. This dividend will be for the financial year ended March 31. The annual dividend marks a more than 5.0 per cent increase over the amount earmarked in the Union Budget 2025-26. 

Here are 10 things to know about this big development:  

• The RBI's FY25 surplus payout marks a year-on-year increase of 27.5 per cent.
• The RBI board reviewed the global and domestic economic scenario, including risks to its outlook, before clearing the payout for FY25.   
• The payout was cleared at a key meeting of the RBI's Central Board of Directors on the same day, after it cleared the Economic Capital Framework (ECF) on May 15. 
• The ECF lays the basis for deciding the surplus payout to the central government.

RBI invites public comments on the draft circular on ‘Inoperative Accounts/ Unclaimed Deposits in Banks - Revised Instructions (Amendment) 2025https://t.co/fdCo2Wy4Yc

— ReserveBankOfIndia (@RBI) May 23, 2025

• The revised framework stipulates that the risk provisioning under the Contingent Risk Buffer (CRB) be maintained within a range of 7.50 to 4.50 per cent of the central bank’s balance sheet.
• For the period from FY19 to FY22, the RBI board had decided to maintain the CRB at 5.50 per cent of the balance sheet owing to the prevailing macroeconomic conditions emanating from the eruption of the pandemic.
• That decision was aimed at support growth and overall economic activity during the impacted years
• The CRB was then increased to 6.00 per cent for FY23 and to 6.50 per cent for FY24, and later to 7.50 per cent.
• For the financial year ended March 31, 2024, the central bank had transferred a record surplus of Rs 2.1 lakh crore to the government, which was more than double the sum paid for the previous year.
• In the Union Budget 2025, the Narendra Modi 3.0 government projected an annual dividend income of Rs 2.56 lakh crore from the RBI and public sector undertakings (PSUs).