Centre cites record dividends urging MFs to back PSUs

PSUs delivered a record ₹1.5 tn in dividends in FY25, while the government aims ₹69,000 cr in FY26

- Rhik Kundu & Subhash Narayan

The Centre on Wednesday urged mutual fund managers to increase their exposure to state-owned enterprises, citing their strong dividend performance and role in equitable wealth distribution. "We suggest fund managers include public sector stocks in their portfolios so that common investors, senior citizens and minority shareholders can deploy their savings productively," said Arunish Chawla, secretary, department of investment and public asset management (Dipam), at a media briefing.

"While the market cap of public sector undertakings is only 10% of the overall market capitalization, they have distributed about 25% of total dividends," he added.