Azim Premji's holding of 80 per cent in Wipro is turning out to be a good strategy after all. For the second year running, he will be taking home close to Rs 580 crore from dividend payments.

On Friday, Wipro announced a 100 per cent interim dividend (Rs 5 per equity share of face value Rs 5) for the year ending March 31, 2007. With Premji's holding of 81.91 per cent in Wipro totalling up to a little over 1,160 mn shares, the total payout will be close to Rs 580 crore.

Wipro will be paying out a little over Rs 700 crore as dividend to its shareholders. The Indian public will earn close to Rs 48 crore, based on its holding of nearly 7 per cent.

For the last fiscal also, Premji, among the wealthiest persons in the world (21st richest, according to Forbes), made a similar gain of Rs 575 crore as the company announced a similar cash dividend of Rs 5 per share.

Premji has been actively investing in various companies from the reserves he has been building up, playing the role of a sharp investor, besides investing substantially in various social initiatives through the Azim Premji Foundation.