ONGC has reportedly informed the government that it may not be able to raise the dividend payout for 2017-18 on account of its acquisition of a majority stake in HPCL and Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation's (GSPC's) KG basin gas block. According to multiple sources, this would mean a cut of about 17 percent on the dividend collected from petroleum companies, to Rs 145 billion in 2017-18 from Rs 175 billion in 2016-17. The government is said to have agreed to restrict the dividend payout to 45 percent of the company's net profit. In this financial year, ONGC had completed the acquisition of an 80 percent stake in GSPC's KG basin gas block for Rs 77.4 billion. In January, it bought a 51.1 percent government stake in HPCL for about Rs 369 billion. Last year, the government had demanded higher dividend from its three oil marketing companies (OMCs) - Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), and HPCL. The reason given was that their earnings and profit had risen in the first half of the financial year. IOC's share comes to around Rs 55 billion and that of ONGC at Rs 52 billion. These numbers include the final dividend of last year and interim dividend of this one," said a government official, on condition of anonymity. During 2016-17, higher dividends from cash-rich public sector undertakings had come handy for the government. Petroleum companies saw a 71.3 per cent rise in dividend to Rs 175 billion.