The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday announced a record Rs 2.87 lakh crore dividend to the government for the 2025-26 financial year, providing financial leeway amid geopolitical challenges. This is one of the highest dividend payouts by the central bank. 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.
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 Central Board approved the transfer of surplus of Rs 2,86,588.46 crore to the Central Government for the accounting year 2025-26,” the RBI said in its release.
The central bank also said that its gross income increased by 26.42 per cent in the financial year 2025-26 compared to the previous year. The expenditure before risk provisions rose 27.60 per cent.
“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.
The central bank said it decided to transfer Rs 1,09,379.64 crore towards the Contingent Risk Buffer (CRB) for FY26, compared to Rs 44,861.70 crore in the previous year, while maintaining the CRB at 6.5 per cent of the balance sheet size. “The Board reviewed the global and domestic economic scenario, including risks to the outlook,” the RBI said.
Deputy Governors Swaminathan J, Poonam Gupta, Shirish Chandra Murmu and Rohit Jain, along with other directors of the Central Board, attended the meeting.ย