Shimla, Oct 5 (IANS): Public sector Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (SJVNL), a company that owns and operates India's largest hydropower project in Himachal Pradesh, on Wednesday announced it will pay a dividend of Rs 116.05 crore to the state government that holds 25.5 per cent equity in the company.

It had declared a dividend of Rs 455.03 crore for 2015-16, the company said in a statement. In the previous fiscal, SJVNL had paid a dividend of Rs 434.35 crore.

It said this was the highest ever dividend paid by SJVNL since commissioning of its 1,500 MW Nathpa Jhakri Hydro Power Station in Kinnaur district in 2003-04.

SJVNL is a joint venture between the central and the Himachal Pradesh governments. The former holds 74.5 per cent stake, while the remaining is held by the state government.

However, the central government sold 10 per cent equity in May 2010.

The company's other two projects -- 412 MW Rampur Hydel Project in Himachal and 47.6 MW Khirvire Wind Power Project in Maharashtra are also in operation.

SJVNL is implementing 12 other projects in Nepal, Bhutan, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Gujarat and Maharashtra.