Which one of the following Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) is recognized as Miniratnas?

Correct — A, Airport Authority of India. The Airports Authority of India — the paper prints the name without the plural — is a Miniratna Category-I central public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, and it manages airports and the country's air navigation services. The other three sit higher on the ladder. Indian Oil Corporation and Steel Authority of India were both in the first group of companies granted Maharatna status in 2010 and 2011. Hindustan Aeronautics was a Navratna at the time of this examination, so it too was above the Miniratna tier when the paper was set.

• (b)Indian Oil Corporation Limited — A Maharatna, and one of the earliest to be granted the status. Maharatna is the top tier and carries the widest freedom to invest without prior government approval.
• (c)Hindustan Aeronautics Limited — A Navratna when this paper was set, which is the tier above Miniratna. It has since moved higher still, having been granted Maharatna status in 2024.
• (d)Steel Authority of India Limited — A Maharatna since 2010. It appears in the option list precisely because a candidate who knows only that it is a large and famous public enterprise may reach for the wrong tier.

The Department of Public Enterprises grades profit-making central public sector enterprises so that the better performers get more financial and operational autonomy from their administrative ministry. There are four rungs — Miniratna Category-II, Miniratna Category-I, Navratna and Maharatna — and the higher the rung, the larger the investment a board may sanction on its own and the freer it is to form joint ventures and subsidiaries.

The way into an item like this is the shape of the ladder rather than the membership of each rung, because the membership changes. Miniratna Category-I requires continuous profit for three years, a pre-tax profit of at least thirty crore rupees in one of them, and a positive net worth. Navratna requires a company already at Miniratna Category-I to score well across financial and performance parameters. Maharatna is reserved for the very largest, and a company must already be a Navratna and listed on a stock exchange before it can be considered. As of the 2020 exam the answer rested on Hindustan Aeronautics being a Navratna; that is the fact which has since moved, since it was raised to Maharatna in 2024. The Airports Authority remains a Miniratna Category-I enterprise.

• The four grades are Miniratna Category-II, Miniratna Category-I, Navratna and Maharatna, in ascending order of autonomy.
• Miniratna Category-I needs continuous profit for three years, a pre-tax profit of at least thirty crore rupees in one of them, and a positive net worth.
• A company must already be a Navratna, and listed, before it can be considered for Maharatna status.
• The Airports Authority of India is a Miniratna Category-I enterprise under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and also provides air navigation services.
• Hindustan Aeronautics was a Navratna at the time of this paper and was granted Maharatna status in 2024.

• Grading a company by how famous it is rather than by the published list.
• Assuming the lists are static; companies are promoted between tiers every few years.
• Confusing Miniratna Category-I with Category-II, which differ on the profit threshold.

Current-affairs items of this kind are anchored to the year of the paper. Learn the criteria, which do not move, and treat the membership as a fact with a date attached.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following is the highest grade awarded to a central public sector enterprise in India?

  • (a)Navratna
  • (b)Maharatna
  • (c)Miniratna Category-I
  • (d)Miniratna Category-II

  Answer(b) Maharatna — and a company must already be a listed Navratna before it can be considered for it.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which department of the Government of India confers Maharatna, Navratna and Miniratna status on public sector enterprises?

  • (a)The Department of Economic Affairs
  • (b)The Department of Public Enterprises
  • (c)The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade
  • (d)The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management

  Answer(b) The Department of Public Enterprises — it also runs the memorandum of understanding system that rates their performance.