Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Friday declared that the government would in no case accept dividends less than last year's from public sector units (PSUs).

Mr. Chidambaram yesterday met the heads of a number of blue-chip PSUs, including Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Indian Oil Ltd (IOL), GAIL India, Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), NTPC and Coal India Ltd (CIL).

During the meeting, Mr. Chidambaram declared, "Dividend payments by PSUs will not be less than last year's. In no case will we accept dividend less than last year's."

The country's fiscal deficit soared to 75 per cent of the government's budget estimate in just the first 5-month period of current fiscal year. Higher dividends by PSUs would help the Congress-led UPA government cut its huge fiscal deficit.

The government aims to raise Rs 73,866 crore via dividends by PSUs this year, considerably up from Rs 55,443 crore in the last fiscal.

Following the meeting, Mr. Chidambaram told media persons that he believed that most of the PSUs would be able to achieve their capital expansion (capex) plan.