Navratna - Economics, UPSC, IAS. | Indian Economy (Prelims) by Shahid Ali PDF Download

Introduction

The Government of India categorizes Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) under three different categories – Maharatna, Navratna, and Miniratna. These categorisations are based on different criteria. This article gives the list of Navratna companies, eligibility criteria for the status along with important information about the Navratna companies.

Navratna Companies – List of 14 Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE)

Navaratna companies could invest up to Rs 1,000 crore without explicit government approval. Overall, there are 14 Central Public Sector Enterprises which have been categorized as Navratna Companies based on criteria put out by the Government of India.
The below table gives the list of Navratna Companies (As of January 2024):

Navratna Companies – Eligibility Criteria & Benefits of the Navratna Status

Eligibility Criteria: 
A company must first be a Miniratna and have 4 independent directors on its board before it can be made a Navratna. A score of 60 (out of 100) is required, based on the parameters which are given below

• PBDIT (Profit Before Depreciation, Interest and Taxes)
• Total Manpower Cost
• Cost of Services
• Capital Employed
• Net Worth
• Net Profit
• Cost of Services

Benefits for Investment: 
Up to Rs. 1,000 crore or 15% of their net worth on a single project or 30% of their net worth in the whole year (not exceeding Rs. 1,000 crores).

14 Navratna Companies – Details

Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL)

• Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) is an Indian state-owned aerospace and defence company with about nine factories, and several regional offices in India.
• Bharat Electronics Limited was founded in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India in 1954.
• Revenue of Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) is ₹12,921.11 crore (US$1.8 billion) (2020)

Bharat Electronics Limited – Products
Some of the most important products manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) are given below

• Avionics, 
• Radars, 
• Weapon Systems, 
• C4I Systems, 
• Electronic Voting Machines.

Container Corporation of India

• Container Corporation of India Limited (CONCOR) is a Navratna Public Sector Undertaking under the Indian Ministry of Railways. Incorporated in March 1988 under the Companies Act, CONCOR commenced operations in November 1989 taking over an existing network of seven inland container depots (ICDs) from Indian Railways.
• Indian Railway’s strategic initiative to containerise cargo transport put India on the intermodal freight transport map for the first time in 1966. Given India’s size (almost 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi) from North to South and East to West, rail transport is often a cheaper option for all cargo over medium and long distances.

Engineers India Limited (EIL)

Engineers India Limited (EIL) is a Navratna public-sector undertaking of the Government of India under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. It was set up in 1965 to provide engineering and related technical services for petroleum refineries and other industrial projects.
EIL has emerged as a design, engineering and turnkey contracting company in the following fields:

• Petroleum refining
• Petrochemicals, chemicals and fertilisers
• Pipelines
• Offshore oil and gas
• Onshore oil and gas
• Terminals and storages
• Mining and metallurgy
• Infrastructure

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is an Indian state-owned aerospace and defence company headquartered in Bangalore (Bengaluru), India. It is governed under the management of the Indian Ministry of Defence.
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is primarily involved in the operations of aerospace and is currently involved in the following activities

• Design, 
• Fabrication and Assembly of aircraft, 
• Jet Engines, 
• Helicopters and their spare parts.

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited

• Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), is a state-owned telecommunications service provider and wholly owned subsidiary of BSNL headquartered in New Delhi, India. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) was created in 1986.
• MTNL Provides services in the metro cities of Mumbai and New Delhi in India and in the island nation of Mauritius in Africa.

National Aluminium Company (NALCO)

• NALCO is one of the largest integrated Bauxite-Alumina-Aluminium-Power Complex in the country encompassing bauxite mining, alumina refining, aluminium smelting and casting, power generation, rail and port operations.
• The Company is the lowest-cost producer of metallurgical grade alumina in the World and lowest-cost producer of Bauxite in the world as per Wood McKenzie report.
• It is headquartered in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

NBCC (India) Limited

• NBCC was incorporated in 1960 as a wholly owned Government of India enterprise under the erstwhile Ministry of Works, Housing & Supply (MoWHS), which is now known as the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
• NBCC is headquartered in New Delhi and it has 31 regional offices across India. 
• NBCC is designated as the implementing agency for executing projects under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY), Solid Waste Management (SWM) and developmental work in North Eastern Region.

National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC)

• NMDC is involved in the exploration of iron ore, copper, rock phosphate, limestone, dolomite, gypsum, bentonite, magnesite, diamond, tin, tungsten, graphite, etc.
• NMDC is India’s largest iron ore producer and exporter, producing more than 35 million tonnes of iron ore from three mechanized mines in Chhattisgarh and Karnataka. It also operates the only mechanized diamond mine in the country at Panna in Madhya Pradesh.

Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) India Limited

• Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) was incorporated in 1956 and was wholly owned by the government of India. A small portion of its stock was sold to the public to list its shares on stock exchanges where its shares are traded. It is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Coal.
• Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) annually produces about 30 million tonnes of Lignite from opencast mines at Neyveli in the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India and at Barsingsar in Bikaner district of Rajasthan state. The lignite is used at pithead thermal power stations of 3640 MW installed capacity to produce electricity.

Oil India Limited (OIL)

• Oil India Limited (OIL) is a state-owned Navratna under the administrative control of India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
• OIL is engaged in the business of exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas, transportation of crude oil and production of liquid petroleum gas.
• Oil India Limited (OIL) is the second-largest hydrocarbon exploration and production Indian public sector company with its operational headquarters in Duliajan, Assam, India.

Power Finance Corporation (P.F.C)

P.F.C was initially wholly owned by the Government of India, the company issued an initial public offering in January 2007. The issue was oversubscribed by over 76 times, which is one of the largest for an IPO of any Indian company.

The services offered by Power Finance Corporation (P.F.C) are

• Financial Consulting, 
• Financial Products, 
• Investment Banking, 
• Loan Management, 
• Linkage Management

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam 

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd, (RINL), also known as Vizag Steel, is a Public steel producer based in Visakhapatnam, India. Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) is the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), India’s first shore-based integrated steel plant built with state-of-the-art technology.

RINL – Subsidiaries

• Eastern Investments Limited (EIL)
• The Orissa Minerals Development Company Limited (OMDC)
• The Bisra Stone Lime Company Limited (BSLC)

REC Limited

• REC Limited, formerly Rural Electrification Corporation Limited, is a public Infrastructure Finance Company in India’s power sector.
• The company provides loans to Central/ State Sector Power Utilities in the country, State Electricity Boards, Rural Electric Cooperatives, NGOs and Private Power Developers.

Shipping Corporation of India (SCI)

• SCI was established on 2 October 1961 by the amalgamation of Eastern Shipping Corporation and Western Shipping Corporation. Two more shipping companies, Jayanti Shipping Company and Mogul Lines Limited, were merged with SCI in 1973 and 1986 respectively.
• SCI was also awarded the prestigious “Navratna” status by the Indian Government in 2008. On the 21st of November 2019, the Government of India approved the privatisation of SCI.