The high-level secretaries’ panel headed by Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth approved the proposal to award BHEL and GAIL the coveted Maharatna status.
The status would give these public sector units greater financial autonomy. Agency reports indicate that the central government would issue formal orders to this effect soon.
Maharatna status is awarded to a firm with an average annual turnover of over Rs 25,000 crore in the last three years, according to the Department of Public Enterprises guidelines. Also, the net worth of the firm must exceed Rs 15,000 crore and net profit must be over Rs 5,000 crore during the last three years.
It is learnt that based on the criteria of net worth, turnover and net profit, BHEL and GAIL qualify for the coveted status.
Currently, these two firms are Navratna PSUs. A Maharatna firm can take investment decision of up to Rs 5,000 crore without going to the government. For Navratna firms, this limit is Rs 1,000 crore.
At present, there are five Maharatna companies – ONGC, Indian Oil, SAIL, NTPC and CIL and 16 Navratna companies, including Rashtriya Ispat Nigam and NMDC.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.