Coal India Ltd (CIL) Board of Directors on Saturday approved payment of Interim dividend for the financial year 2015-16 @ Rs. 27.40 a share on the face value of Rs 10.

The payment of interim dividend would start from March 21, CIL informed stock exchanges. Earlier, CIL had fixed March 15 as the ‘record date’ for the purpose of payment of interim dividend.

The total outgo for the CIL's interim dividend would be around Rs 20, 830 crore including the dividend distribution tax.

The Government of India, which holds 79.65 per cent stake in CIL, will get Rs 17,308 crore.