The NSE's main stock index, which tracks 50 large, actively traded companies and weights each by the market value of its publicly tradable shares. Read the full meaning of Nifty 50 A dividend is a part of a company's profit that the board decides to pay to shareholders, usually in cash, in proportion to the shares held. Read the full meaning of Dividend yield was about 1.42% on 30 October 2026, and investors looking for high dividend stocks in India notice that this index figure is above its usual level. The A regulated electronic marketplace in Mumbai where buyers and sellers trade shares and other securities at publicly visible prices. Read the full meaning of NSE (National Stock Exchange) factsheet for the same date shows a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30 for the index.
The 10-year median for Nifty yield is about 1.26%, according to Craytheon, which pulls NSE data. In the past, the record low was 0.93% back in September 2017, while the record high touched 2.00% in March 2020.
In the 31 July 2026 factsheet, the yield was 1.22%. Bajaj AMC data shows that a rising share price reduces the yield and a falling price increases it, even when the dividends paid remain unchanged. Such a change between two factsheets can come from price moves alone.
Sector indices are showing a similar pattern. As per IndexScreener, the Nifty IT index had a yield of 2.89% on 27 October 2026, against its five year average of 2.37%.
Payout ratios tell different stories
A yield figure reads differently once it is placed next to the payout ratio, which is the share of a company's profit that is paid out as dividend. Screener data from Equitymaster for October 2026 shows that the ratios among well known dividend payers are far apart.
- Tech Mahindra: 94%
- HUL: 90.4%
- HCL Tech: 88%
- ITC: 86.4%
- TCS: 80.5%
- Coal India: 52.6%
- ABB India: 50%
Most of the IT and FMCG names in this list are paying out a large part of their profit to shareholders, while Coal India and ABB India are paying out around half. Same screener shows a P/E of 8.4 for Coal India.
ICICI Prudential AMC is at 153.2% on this screener which means the company is paying out more than its profit.
One broker guide, published by InStock Broker around July 2026, treats a payout ratio of 40% to 65% as healthy. It calls a ratio below 40% conservative, and it says that a ratio above 65% to 70% may not be sustainable. All the IT and FMCG companies in the list above are placed higher than that band.
The same guide says that a dividend yield should be judged along with cash flow coverage, the continuity of dividends across market cycles, and the business model of company. Individual investors who look only at the yield column on a screener are not seeing any of these four checks.
When the yield is high because the price fell
A high yield can come from a beaten down share price and not from any generosity of the company. A company's first offer of its shares to the public, after which the shares are listed on a stock exchange and can be bought or sold by any investor. Read the full meaning of IPO Control gives the example of a stock showing a 15% yield after its price had fallen by 70% over two years, with the dividend being paid from reserves. On the screen the yield looks attractive, while the business is weaker than it was before.
A 2026 list published by Equentis around April shows Vedanta at 9.90%, and the article itself flags such yields as a possible dividend trap. A table from Sovrenn, also from around April, puts the payout ratio of Vedanta above 100%, at 113.48.
The Sovrenn table lists Powergrid at a 9.61% yield with a payout ratio of 92.88. For Coal India, it shows a payout ratio of about 46% which is lower than the figure on the Equitymaster screener mentioned earlier.
Equentis shows Coal India at 6.91%, while Sovrenn shows it at about 6.09%. Published yields for such names will change with the date of the data and the screener being used.
