Samsung to pay ₹2.1 lakh crore dividend in Q3, more than 40% of India Inc’s FY26 payout

Samsung Electronics on Friday announced plans to distribute 30 trillion won ($22 billion) in cash dividends in Q3, as part of a broader shareholder-return package of up to 110 trillion won ($80 billion) for 2026. The company also plans to buy back 15 trillion won worth of shares for employee compensation.

The world’s biggest memory-chip maker said in a regulatory filing that it plans to return about half of its free cash flow to shareholders, with 30 trillion won earmarked for Q3 dividends.

Samsung’s shareholder-return programme ranks among the largest ever announced by a company. The Q3 dividend alone is equivalent to around ₹2.1 lakh crore, or more than 40% of the total dividends distributed by India Inc in FY26. The conversion is based on an exchange rate of ₹0.06914 per Korean won.

According to a CNBC-TV18 analysis, BSE 500 companies, which account for nearly 93% of India’s total market capitalisation, distributed around ₹5 lakh crore in dividends in FY26, up 8% from the previous year. Companies from the software, banking and public-sector sectors were among the biggest contributors.

Samsung’s dominance in Korea’s equity market is also significant. The chipmaker accounts for around 27% of the Korean equity market, with a market capitalisation of about $1.14 trillion. Rival SK Hynix, which recently announced plans to buy back 40 trillion won worth of shares and return more profits to investors, has a market capitalisation of around $914 billion. Together, the two chipmakers account for nearly half of South Korea’s equity market.

South Korea is the eighth-largest equity market globally, with a combined market capitalisation of around $4.3 trillion. India, meanwhile, ranks fifth, with a market capitalisation of around $5.13 trillion.

Among India’s highest dividend-paying companies, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) topped the list with a payout of nearly ₹40,000 crore in FY26, followed by HDFC Bank at ₹23,860 crore. Infosys distributed nearly ₹20,000 crore, while ITC paid a little over ₹18,000 crore. State-owned companies Coal India and ONGC distributed between ₹16,000 crore and ₹17,000 crore during the year.

Samsung’s latest shareholder-return announcement comes amid a sharp sell-off in chip stocks, as concerns grow that the surge in AI-related hardware spending could prove short-lived. Samsung shares have fallen 26% from their June peak, while SK Hynix has declined by more than 40% over the same period. Market participants expect the latest capital-return measures to provide some support to the stocks following the recent correction.