Last Updated: 27 November 2023
Before we get into the list of Maharatna Companies, You first need to understand why some Indian Companies are called Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).
In India, a Government-owned Enterprise is called a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) or a Public Sector Enterprise. These companies are wholly or partly owned by the Government of India or one of the many State or Territorial Governments or both together in parts.
Officers working for these companies are gazetted officers and Employees subordinate to the officers are full-fledged government employees.
The Government of India gives the special status of “Maharatna Company” to some of the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) who fulfill the criteria through exemplary performance.
Such a company’s stock is majority-owned by the Government of India in the name of the President of India. In 1951, there were just 5 enterprises in the public sector in India, but in March 2019 this had increased to 348.
Page Contents
Criteria For Maharatna Status
- The company should have “Navratna” status.
- The company should be listed on the Indian stock exchange with minimum prescribed public shareholding under SEBI regulations.
- The company should have an average Annual Turnover of more than ₹25,000 crores during the last 3 years.
- The company should have an average Annual Net Worth of more than ₹15,000 crores during the last 3 years.
- The company should have an average Annual Net Profit after tax of more than ₹5,000 crores during the last 3 years.
- The company should have a significant Global Presence or International Operations.
List Of Maharatna Companies
| No. | Company | Acronym | Founded |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited | BHEL | 1964 |
| 2 | Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited | BPCL | 1952 |
| 3 | Coal India Limited | CIL | 1975 |
| 4 | Gas Authority of India Limited | GAIL | 1984 |
| 5 | Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited | HPCL | 1974 |
| 6 | Indian Oil Corporation Limited | IOCL | 1959 |
| 7 | National Thermal Power Corporation Limited | NTPC | 1975 |
| 8 | Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited | ONGC | 1956 |
| 9 | Oil India Limited | OIL | 1959 |
| 10 | Power Grid Corporation of India Limited | PGCIL | 1989 |
| 11 | Power Finance Corporation Limited | PFCL | 1986 |
| 12 | Rural Electrification Corporation Limited | REC | 1969 |
| 13 | Steel Authority of India Limited | SAIL | 1954 |
10 Interesting Facts About PSUs
- As of November 2023, there are 13 Maharatnas, 13 Navratnas, and 76 Miniratna Companies.
- There are a total of 348 CPSEs (Central Public Sector Enterprises).
- Originally, the term “Navaratna” meant a talisman composed of nine precious gems.
- Financial autonomy was initially awarded to nine PSUs as Navratna status in 1997.
- In 2010, the Government established the higher “Maharatna Category”, which raises a company’s investment ceiling from ₹1,000 crores to ₹5,000 crores.
- The Maharatna firms can decide on investments of up to 15% of their net worth in a project while the Navaratna companies could invest up to ₹1,000 crores without explicit government approval.
- PSUs in India are categorized based on their special non-financial objectives and are registered under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013.
- The performance of Maharatna CPSEs would be reviewed annually by the Inter-Ministerial Committee, and thereafter by the Apex Committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary which will recommend the continuation or divestment of Maharatna’s status.
- PSUs are classified as Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) which are wholly or partly owned by the Government of India or State Level Public Sector Undertakings (SLPSUs) which are wholly or partly owned by State or Territorial Governments.
- The Largest holding of the Government of India in a Maharatna Company is Coal India Limited (66.13%).
Details Of Maharatna Companies
1Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited
| No. | Heading | Information |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Industry | Electrical Equipment |
| 2 | Founded | 1964 |
| 3 | Headquarters | New Delhi |
| 4 | Area served | Worldwide |
| 5 | Chairman | Nalin Shinghal |
| 6 | Owner | Government of India (63.17%) |
| 7 | Parent | Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises |
| 8 | Subsidiary | BHEL Electrical Machines Limited |
| 9 | Website | www.bhel.com |
| 10 | Products | 1) Automation & Control Systems 2) Boilers 3) Electric Motors 4) Electric Locomotives 5) Gas & Steam Turbines 6) Generators 7) Heat Exchangers 8) Power Electronics 9) Switchgears & Sensors 10) Transmission Systems |
| 11 | Traded As | BSE: 500103 NSE: BHEL |
| 12 | ISIN | INE257A01026 |
| 13 | Remarks | BHEL is India’s largest power generation equipment manufacturer |
2Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited
| No. | Heading | Information |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Industry | Oil & Gas |
| 2 | Founded | 1952 |
| 3 | Headquarters | Mumbai |
| 4 | Area served | India |
| 5 | Chairman | K. Padmakar |
| 6 | Owner | Government of India (54.93%) |
| 7 | Parent | Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas |
| 8 | Subsidiary | 1) Bharat Gas Resources Limited 2) Bharat Oman Refinery Limited 3) Bharat Petroresources Limited 4) Bharat Renewable Energy Limited 5) Indraprastha Gas Limited 6) Petronet LNG |
| 9 | Website | www.bharatpetroleum.in |
| 10 | Products | 1) LNG 2) Lubricants 3) Natural Gas 4) Petrochemicals 5) Petroleum |
| 11 | Traded As | BSE: 500547 NSE: BPCL NSE: NIFTY 50 Constituent |
| 12 | ISIN | INE029A01011 |
| 13 | Remarks | It was ranked 309th on the 2020 Fortune Global 500 list of the world’s biggest corporations, and 792nd on Forbes’s 2021 “Global 2000” list |
3Coal India Limited
| No. | Heading | Information |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Industry | Mining & Refinery |
| 2 | Founded | 1975 |
| 3 | Headquarters | Kolkata |
| 4 | Area served | India |
| 5 | Chairman | Pramod Agarwal |
| 6 | Owner | Government of India (66.13%) |
| 7 | Parent | Ministry of Coal |
| 8 | Subsidiary | 1) Bharat Coking Coal Limited 2) Central Coalfields Limited 3) Eastern Coalfields Limited 4) Mahanadi Coalfields Limited 5) Northern Coalfield Limited 6) South Eastern Coalfields Limited 7) Western Coalfields Limited |
| 9 | Website | www.coalindia.in |
| 10 | Products | Coal |
| 11 | Traded As | BSE: 533278 NSE: COALINDIA NSE: NIFTY 50 Constituent |
| 12 | ISIN | INE522F01014 |
| 13 | Remarks | CIL ranks 8th among the top 20 firms responsible for a third of all global carbon emissions |
Related: List Of Top 20 Richest Person In The World 2024
4Gas Authority of India Limited
| No. | Heading | Information |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Industry | Energy |
| 2 | Founded | 1984 |
| 3 | Headquarters | New Delhi |
| 4 | Area served | Worldwide |
| 5 | Chairman | Manoj Jain |
| 6 | Owner | Government of India (51.82%) |
| 7 | Parent | Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas |
| 8 | Subsidiary | 1) Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited 2) GAIL Gas Limited 3) GAIL Global (Singapore) Pte Limited 4) GAIL Global (USA) Inc 5) GAIL Global (USA) LNG LLC |
| 9 | Website | www.gailonline.com |
| 10 | Products | 1) City Gas Distribution 2) E&P 3) Electricity Generation 4) Liquid Hydrocarbons 5) Liquefied Petroleum Gas Transmission 6) Natural Gas 7) Petrochemical |
| 11 | Traded As | BSE: 532155 NSE: GAIL LSE: GAID NSE: NIFTY 50 Constituent |
| 12 | ISIN | INE129A01019 |
| 13 | Remarks | GAIL transmits more than 160 million cubic meters per day at standard gas conditions through its dedicated pipelines and has more than 70% market share in gas transmission and marketing |
5Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited
| No. | Heading | Information |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Industry | Oil & Gas |
| 2 | Founded | 1974 |
| 3 | Headquarters | Mumbai |
| 4 | Area served | India |
| 5 | Chairman | Mukesh Kumar Surana |
| 6 | Employees | 10,352 (2020) |
| 7 | Parent | Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (53.56%) |
| 8 | Subsidiary | 1) CREDA-HPCL Biofuels Limited 2) HPCL Biofuels Limited 3) HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Limited 4) HP Drive Track Plus cards |
| 9 | Website | www.hindustanpetroleum.com |
| 10 | Products | 1) LNG 2) Lubricants 3) Natural gas 4) Petrochemicals 5) Petroleum |
| 11 | Traded As | BSE: 500104 NSE: HINDPETRO |
| 12 | ISIN | INE094A01015 |
| 13 | Remarks | HPCL was removed from NIFTY 50 INDEX in March 2019 and On 24 October 2019, the company became a Maharatna PSU |
6Indian Oil Corporation Limited
| No. | Heading | Information |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Industry | Oil & Gas |
| 2 | Founded | 30 June 1959 |
| 3 | Headquarters | New Delhi |
| 4 | Area served | Worldwide |
| 5 | Chairman | Shrikant Madhav Vaidya |
| 6 | Owner | Government of India (51.50%) |
| 7 | Parent | Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas |
| 8 | Subsidiary | 1) IndianOil (Mauritius) Limited 2) Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited 3) Lanka IOC PLC 4) IOC Middle East FZE Indane |
| 9 | Website | www.iocl.com |
| 10 | Products | 1) LNG 2) Lubricants 3) Natural Gas 4) Petrochemicals 5) Petroleum |
| 11 | Traded As | BSE: 530965 NSE: IOC NSE: NIFTY 50 Constituent |
| 12 | ISIN | INE242A01010 |
| 13 | Remarks | It is India’s largest downstream oil company, a turnover of ₹4,87,152 crore and a net profit of 19,313 crores after taxes for the financial year 2019-20 |
Related: Top 50 Pharmaceutical Companies In India (2024 Updated)
7National Thermal Power Corporation Limited
| No. | Heading | Information |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Industry | Electricity |
| 2 | Founded | 7 November 1975 |
| 3 | Headquarters | New Delhi |
| 4 | Area served | India |
| 5 | Chairman | Gurdeep Singh |
| 6 | Owner | Government of India (64.74%) |
| 7 | Parent | Ministry of Power |
| 8 | Subsidiary | 1) North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited 2) THDC India Limited 3) NSPCL |
| 9 | Website | www.ntpc.co.in |
| 10 | Services | 1) Electricity Generation & Distribution 2) Natural Gas Exploration 3) Production 4) Transportation 5) Distribution |
| 11 | Traded As | BSE: 532555 NSE: NTPC BSE: SENSEX Constituent NSE: NIFTY 50 Constituent |
| 12 | ISIN | INE733E01010 |
| 13 | Remarks | NTPC currently produces 25 billion units of electricity per month |
8Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited
| No. | Heading | Information |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Industry | Oil & Gas |
| 2 | Founded | 14 August 1956 |
| 3 | Headquarters | New Delhi |
| 4 | Area served | Worldwide |
| 5 | Chairman | Subhash Kumar |
| 6 | Owner | Government of India (60.41%) |
| 7 | Parent | Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas |
| 8 | Subsidiary | 1) Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited 2) Imperial Energy Corporation 3) Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited 4) ONGC Videsh 5) ONGC Petro-Additions Limited 6) ONGC Tripura Power Company |
| 9 | Website | www.ongcindia.com |
| 10 | Products | 1) Electricity 2) LNG 3) Lubricants 4) Natural gas 5) Petrochemicals 6) Petroleum |
| 11 | Traded As | NSE: ONGC BSE: 500312 BSE: SENSEX Constituent NSE: NIFTY 50 Constituent |
| 12 | ISIN | INE213A01029 |
| 13 | Remarks | In a survey by the Government of India for the fiscal year 2019–20, ONGC was ranked as the largest profit-making PSU in India |
9Oil India Limited
| No. | Heading | Information |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Industry | Oil and Gas |
| 2 | Founded | 18 February 1959 |
| 3 | Headquarters | Duliajan |
| 4 | Area served | Worldwide |
| 5 | Chairman | Dr. Ranjit Rath |
| 6 | Owner | Government of India (56.66%) |
| 7 | Parent | Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas |
| 8 | Subsidiary | Numaligarh Refinery Limited |
| 9 | Website | www.oil-india.com |
| 10 | Products | 1) Petroleum 2) Natural Gas 3) Petrochemicals |
| 11 | Traded As | NSE: OIL BSE: 533106 |
| 12 | ISIN | INE274J01014 |
| 13 | Remarks | State-run oil major Oil India Limited was elevated to the Maharatna status on recommendation from the Finance Ministry of the Indian Government. This makes Oil India Limited the 13th Maharatna Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE) |
10Power Grid Corporation of India Limited
| No. | Heading | Information |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Industry | Electricity Grids |
| 2 | Founded | 23 October 1989 |
| 3 | Headquarters | Gurgaon |
| 4 | Area served | India |
| 5 | Chairman | Kandikuppa Sreekant |
| 6 | Owner | Government of India (51.34%) |
| 7 | Parent | Ministry of Power |
| 8 | Subsidiary | 1) Grid Conductors Limited 2) Power System Operation Corporation Limited 3) Powertel India Limited |
| 9 | Website | www.powergrid.in |
| 10 | Products | 1) Distribution 2) Energy Trading 3) Transmission |
| 11 | Traded As | NSE: Powergrid BSE: 532898 BSE: SENSEX Constituent NSE: NIFTY 50 Constituent |
| 12 | ISIN | INE752E01010 |
| 13 | Remarks | Power Grid transmits about 50% of the total power generated in India on its transmission network |
Related: Top American Companies In 2024 With Their Establishment Dates
11Power Finance Corporation
| No. | Heading | Information |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Industry | Financial services |
| 2 | Founded | July 1986 |
| 3 | Headquarters | New Delhi |
| 4 | Area served | India |
| 5 | Chairman | Ravinder Singh Dhillon |
| 6 | Owner | Government of India (52.63%) |
| 7 | Parent | Ministry of Power |
| 8 | Subsidiary | 1) PFC Consulting Limited 2) PFC Green Energy Limited 3) Akaltara Power Limited 4) REC Limited 5) Orissa Integrated Power Limited 6) Coastal Karnataka Power Limited 7) Coastal Tamil Nadu Power Limited 8) Coastal Maharashtra Power Limited 9) Jharkhand Integrated Power Limited 10) Chhattisgarh Surguja Power Limited, etc |
| 9 | Website | www.pfcindia.com |
| 10 | Products | 1) Rupee Term Loan 2) Foreign Currency Loan 3) Short Term Loan |
| 11 | Services | 1) Financial Consulting 2) Financial Products 3) Investment Banking 4) Loan Management 5) Linkage Management |
| 12 | Traded As | NSE: PFC BSE: 532810 |
| 13 | ISIN | INE134E01011 |
| 14 | Remarks | PFC is India’s largest NBFC and also India’s largest infrastructure finance company. The government raised the status of PFC from ‘ Navratna’ to ‘Maharatna’ company on 12 October 2021. |
12Rural Electrification Corporation Limited
| No. | Heading | Information |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Industry | Infrastructure Finance |
| 2 | Founded | 25 July 1969 |
| 3 | Headquarters | New Delhi |
| 4 | Area served | India |
| 5 | Chairman | Vivek Kumar Dewangan |
| 6 | Owner | Government of India (90%) |
| 7 | Parent | Ministry of Power |
| 8 | Subsidiary | 1) REC Transmission Projects Company Limited (RECTPCL) 2) REC Power Distribution Company Limited (RECPDCL) |
| 9 | Website | www.recindia.nic.in |
| 10 | Revenue | ₹35,575 crore (US$4.5 billion) (2021) |
| 11 | Traded As | NSE: RECLTD BSE: 532955 |
| 12 | Employees | 487 (March 2019) |
| 13 | Remarks | The PSU provides loans to Central/State Sector Power Utilities in the country, State Electricity Boards, Rural Electric Cooperatives, NGOs, and Private Power Developers. |
13Steel Authority of India Limited
| No. | Heading | Information |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Industry | Steel |
| 2 | Founded | 19 January 1954 |
| 3 | Headquarters | New Delhi |
| 4 | Area served | Worldwide |
| 5 | Chairman | Soma Mondal |
| 6 | Owner | Government of India (64.9%) |
| 7 | Parent | Ministry of Steel |
| 8 | Subsidiary | NSPCL |
| 9 | Website | www.sail.co.in |
| 10 | Products | 1) Flat Steel Products 2) Long Steel Products 3) Plates 4) Steel 5) Wire Products 6) Wheel & Axle for Indian Railways |
| 11 | Traded As | NSE: SAIL BSE: 500113 LSE: SAUD |
| 12 | ISIN | INE114A01011 |
| 13 | Remarks | SAIL is the 20th largest steel producer in the world and the largest in India with an annual production of 16.30 million metric tons |
| Read More |
