Of ₹100 profit, how much goes in tax? ₹23.

What the chart shows

In the year to March 2026, India's listed companies paid ₹23 in tax for every ₹100 of profit before tax (3,322 companies that made a profit, added together; banks and lenders left out). Metals and mining companies paid the most, ₹26 (₹26 without Tata Steel, the biggest). Trading and transport companies paid the least, ₹18 (₹20 without Great Eastern Shipping, the biggest).

No coin: IT services (163 companies), Telecom (18 companies), Power (37 companies), Media (47 companies), Mixed businesses (13 companies), Paper (38 companies): too few companies, or one company too big to add up fairly. Why trading and transport is lowest: its 4 shipping companies made 21% of its profit and paid ₹5 of every ₹100 in tax (Indian shipping companies can choose to pay a tax worked out on the size of their ships instead of their profit, called tonnage tax); without them the industry paid ₹21.

Left out: 850 companies that made a loss; 283 whose tax line was below zero or above ₹60 of every ₹100 of profit, usually a one-off swing in tax set aside for later years; and 137 whose profit was mostly a one-off gain or cost, such as selling a business. With all of them put back, the figure is ₹20.

What this is: the tax on profit charged in each company's yearly accounts, the tax for the year plus tax set aside for later years, divided by profit before tax. All the companies in an industry are added together, so big companies weigh more. What it is not: the cash paid to the government in the year, or GST and other taxes on sales. It is not a sign that any company or industry is good or bad.

How it is measured

How much of every ₹100 of profit before tax went in tax on profit, industry by industry, for the year to March 2026, from each company's own yearly accounts: the company alone, not its group (standalone), so a listed company owned by another listed company is not counted twice. Tax is the tax on profit charged in the year's accounts, both the tax for the year and tax set aside now for later years (current and deferred tax). It is not the cash paid to the government in the year, and GST, customs and other taxes on sales are not in it.

A group's figure is all its companies' tax added together divided by all their profit before tax added together, so big companies weigh more than small ones. 3,322 companies count. Left out: 720 banks, lenders, insurers and other financial companies; 850 companies that made a loss (tax on a loss cannot be read as a share of profit); 19 with no profit figure; 283 whose tax was below zero (182) or more than ₹60 of every ₹100 of profit (101), usually a one-off swing in tax set aside for later years; and 137 whose profit was mostly a one-off gain or cost, such as selling a business or a one-time charge (one-off items, called exceptional items, more than half of profit before tax; the biggest: Vodafone Idea, ₹58,684 crore one-off gain; Meesho, ₹26,377 crore one-off gain). With those one-off profits in, the figure would be ₹21.8; with every company left out on these rules put back, ₹20.1.

The all-company figure stays ₹23 without the biggest company (TCS: ₹23.3), and with a one-off limit twice as strict (₹23.2). Industry is the industry group on file for each company, in plain words; Construction & cement joins builders and cement makers, Jewellery & home goods is jewellery, paint, appliances and other things for the home, and Trading & transport is traders, logistics, ports, shipping and office-service firms. 606 of the 3,322 companies have no industry on file and are in no industry coin; they are in the all-company figure. An industry gets a coin only with at least 40 companies and no one company above 40% of its profit, else the coin would be one company's result.

Left out on that rule: Telecom (18 companies; Bharti Airtel is 57% of its profit), Paper (38 companies), Mixed businesses (13 companies), Media (47 companies; Sun TV is 41% of its profit), Power (37 companies; Adani Power is 45% of its profit), IT services (163 companies; TCS is 42% of its profit). Why trading and transport is lowest: its 4 shipping companies made 21% of its profit and paid ₹5 of every ₹100 in tax (Indian shipping companies can choose to pay a tax worked out on the size of their ships instead of their profit, called tonnage tax); without them the industry paid ₹21. Each slice is drawn from the exact figure; the printed rupees are rounded to whole rupees.

This is arithmetic on filed accounts, not a view on any company or industry.

Using this chart