- Miniratna, Navratna and Maharatna Status are given to PSUs depending on their success.
- Department of Public Enterprises under Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises grants these status.
Navratna Status:
- The Government had introduced Navratna scheme, in 1997, to identify CPSEs that had comparative advantages and to support them in their drive to become global giants.
- The Boards of Navratna CPSEs have been delegated powers in following areas:
- Capital expenditure,
- Investment in joint ventures / subsidiaries,
- Mergers & acquisition and
- Human resources management, etc.
- At present there are 16 Navratna companies:
- Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL)
- Container Corporation of India Limited
- Engineers India Limited
- Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
- Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited
- Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited
- National Aluminium Company Limited
- National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited
- NMDC Limited
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited
- Oil India Limited
- Power Finance Corporation Limited
- Power Grid Corporation of India Limited
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited
- Rural Electrification Corporation Limited
- Shipping Corporation of India Limited
Maharatna Status:
- The “Maharatna” category for CPSEs was introduced in 2009 with objective to empower mega CPSEs to expand their operations and emerge as global giants or become Indian Multinational Companies (MNCs).
- At present, there are Eight Maharatna companies:
- Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL),
- Coal India (CIL),
- GAIL (India),
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited,
- NTPC,
- Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)
- Steel Authority of India (SAIL)
- Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited
- Maharatna and Navaratna state-owned units operate in strategic fields such as coal, petroleum, steel, heavy engineering, telecommunications, power supply and transportation services.
Criteria for Maharatna status
Under government rules, Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) must fulfill following criteria for grant of Maharatna status.
- Having Navratna status.
- Average annual turnover of more than Rs. 25,000 crore, during last 3 years.
- Average annual net worth of more than Rs. 15,000 crore, during last 3 years.
- Average annual net profit after tax of more than Rs. 5,000 crore, during last 3 years.
- Should have significant global presence and international operations.
- Listed on Indian stock exchange with minimum prescribed public shareholding limit under SEBI regulations.