Infy declares interim dividend, Akshata to get Rs 64.27 cr

Bengaluru-headquartered Infosys Ltd has declared an interim dividend of Rs 16.50 per equity share payable to its eligible shareholders for the financial year 2022-23. The IT major’s dividend announcement is going to benefit a number of Infosys shareholders, including new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty as well.

It means, those investors who own Infosys shares on its record date i.e October 28, would be eligible for the payment of Rs 16.50 per share interim dividend to be payable on November 10.

With the interim dividend announcement of Rs 16.50 per equity share, the net income of the UK first lady who holds 3,89,57,096 Infosys shares would be Rs 64,27,92,084 or around Rs 64.27 crore, the report added.

Murty, who is the daughter of Indian IT company Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy, holds 3,89,57,096 Infosys shares, which is 1.07 per cent of the total paid-up capital of Infosys, according to the shareholding pattern of Infosys recently ended September quarter, reported Mint.

The Infosys board made the announcement on October 13. In a disclosure in the stock market exchanges about record date for dividend payment, Infosys said, “We wish to inform you that the Board of Directors (“Board”) of Infosys Limited (“Company”) at its meeting declared an interim dividend of ₹16.50/- per equity share. Fixed October 28, 2022 as record date for interim dividend and November 10, 2022 as payout date.”

Some of the people related to the promoters of Infosys include Akshata Murthy, new UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spouse and daughter of Infosys founder Narayana Murthy, Gaurav Manchanda, others.

Infosys is among the best dividend-paying companies in India. In 2021, it paid a total of Rs 30 per share dividend, which would have given Akshata a total of Rs 119.5 crore in that calendar year.

While Sunak is a British national, his wife Akshata is an Indian citizen. Her non-domiciled status, which allows her to earn money abroad without paying taxes in Britain for a period of up to 15 years, has been a divisive issue in the UK.

Non-domiciled status of Akshata became an issue of discussion in UK when Sunak first entered the race to become the prime minister in April this year. Her spokesperson had said that as a citizen of India, she was unable to hold citizenship of another country and that “she has always and will continue to pay UK taxes on all her UK income.” As the controversy snowballed, she at that time announced that she would pay UK tax on all of her worldwide earnings out of a “British sense of fairness”.

Murty earned Rs 126.61 crore ($15.3 million) in dividend income in 2022 from her shareholding in Infosysy, reported news agency. PTI