‘Rail Vikas Nigam Limited’ is a:

Correct — B, Navaratna CPSE. Rail Vikas Nigam Limited was granted Navratna status by the Government of India, and the Ministry of Railways announced it on 3 May 2023 — a few months before this paper was set, which is why the question was asked at all. The company had been a Mini-Ratna since September 2013, so the upgrade skipped nothing and moved it one step up the ladder. RVNL was incorporated on 24 January 2003 to build rail infrastructure on a fast track and to raise money for those projects outside the railway budget, and it began operating in 2005. Navratna status matters because of what it delegates: a Navratna board can commit far larger sums to a project, form joint ventures and invest abroad without going back to the ministry for each approval, which is exactly the freedom a company taking on contracts outside the railways and outside India needs.

• (a)Maharatna CPSE — Maharatna is the top tier and is reserved for very large listed companies that are already Navratnas and have a substantial global presence. RVNL had held Navratna status for only three months when this paper was written.
• (c)Miniratna I CPSE — This is the tempting answer, because it was true until very recently. RVNL was made a Mini-Ratna in September 2013 and stayed one for nearly ten years, so any material printed before May 2023 still describes it that way.
• (d)Miniratna II CPSE — Category II is the lowest rung, for smaller profit-making enterprises with the narrowest delegated powers. RVNL had passed beyond it long before this question was set.

The Department of Public Enterprises grades profit-making central public sector enterprises into four tiers — Maharatna, Navratna, Miniratna Category I and Miniratna Category II — and the grade is not an honour but a schedule of delegated financial powers. The higher the tier, the more a company's own board may spend on a new project, a joint venture or an overseas subsidiary without returning to the administrative ministry. Navratna candidates are assessed on a composite score built from performance measures, and Maharatna is open only to companies that are already Navratnas and listed on the stock exchanges.

Public-sector classification questions are dated by nature, so the useful skill is knowing which way a company is moving rather than memorising a list that goes stale. As of the middle of 2026 there are fourteen Maharatnas — among them ONGC, IOCL, NTPC, SAIL, Coal India, Power Grid and HAL — and about twenty-nine Navratnas, with Bharat Electronics a familiar example. The railway family alone shows the pattern: CONCOR has long been a Navratna, RVNL joined the list in 2023, and IRCTC and IRFC were upgraded in 2024. RVNL's best-known recent work is the new Pamban bridge to Rameswaram, India's first vertical-lift railway sea bridge, which opened in April 2025.

• The four tiers, in descending order of delegated powers, are Maharatna, Navratna, Miniratna Category I and Miniratna Category II.
• RVNL was incorporated on 24 January 2003 under the Ministry of Railways and began operations in 2005.
• It was granted Mini-Ratna status in September 2013 and Navratna status announced on 3 May 2023.
• A company must already be a Navratna, and listed, before it can be considered for Maharatna.
• RVNL built the new Pamban bridge, India's first vertical-lift railway sea bridge, inaugurated in April 2025.

• Answering from an older study note; RVNL's grade changed only a few months before this examination.
• Assuming size alone decides the tier — the grade is a schedule of delegated powers, granted on assessment.
• Mixing up Maharatna with Navratna for well-known oil and power companies, most of which are in the higher tier.

Asked as a one-line status identification, timed to an upgrade that had been in the news within the year.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following conditions must be met before a central public sector enterprise can be considered for Maharatna status?

  • (a)It must already hold Navratna status and be listed on the stock exchanges
  • (b)It must be wholly owned by the Government with no public shareholding
  • (c)It must operate in the defence sector
  • (d)It must have been set up before 1991

  Answer(a) It must already hold Navratna status and be listed on the stock exchanges — Maharatna is an upgrade from Navratna, not a separate track.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Rail Vikas Nigam Limited functions under the administrative control of which ministry?

  • (a)Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
  • (b)Ministry of Railways
  • (c)Ministry of Heavy Industries
  • (d)Ministry of Finance

  Answer(b) Ministry of Railways — it was set up in 2003 to execute rail infrastructure projects and to raise resources for them outside the railway budget.