RBI announces record Rs 2.87 lakh crore dividend to Centre

The Reserve Bank of India announced a record dividend payout of Rs 2.87 lakh crore to the Centre for FY26. The surplus transfer comes amid geopolitical challenges and follows strong growth in the central bank’s net income and balance sheet during the financial year

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India on Friday announced a record dividend of Rs 2.87 lakh crore to the government for the 2025-26 financial year, providing financial leeway amid geopolitical challenges.

The dividend, or surplus transfer, for 2024-25 was Rs 2.69 lakh crore, 27.4 per cent more than the payout in 2023-24.

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had transferred Rs 2.1 lakh crore in dividends to the government for 2023-24 and Rs 87,416 crore for 2022-23.

The decision on the dividend payout was taken at the 623rd meeting of the Central Board of Directors of RBI under the chairmanship of Governor Sanjay Malhotra.

“The net income, before risk provision and transfer to statutory funds, aggregated Rs 3,95,972.10 crore in FY 2025-26 as against Rs 3,13,455.77 crore in FY 2024-25,” RBI said in a statement.

The balance sheet of the central bank expanded by 20.61 per cent to Rs 91,97,121.08 crore as on March 31, 2026.