Which mega public sector undertaking is designated with 'Navratna' status?
- (a)IndianOil Corporation Limited
- (b)Gas Authority of India Limited
- (c)Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited
- (d)Bharat Electronics Limited
Correct — D, Bharat Electronics Limited. BEL is the only one of the four that sits on the Navratna list. Indian Oil, GAIL and Bharat Petroleum are all on the Maharatna list, which is the tier above — a Maharatna board may commit up to about 5,000 crore rupees to a single project without going back to the government, a Navratna board up to about 1,000 crore. BEL is a Ministry of Defence company headquartered in Bengaluru, making radars, avionics, weapon systems, communication equipment and the electronic voting machines used in Indian elections, and it was the first defence public sector undertaking to reach Mini Ratna Category-I, in 2002, before its Navratna grant.
- (a)IndianOil Corporation Limited — Indian Oil Corporation is a Maharatna, and one of the oldest holders of that status; the question asks for a company designated Navratna.
- (b)Gas Authority of India Limited — GAIL, the gas transmission and marketing company, is likewise on the Maharatna list, not the Navratna one.
- (c)Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited — Bharat Petroleum Corporation is a Maharatna as well, so three of the four options fail the test for the same reason.
The Department of Public Enterprises grades profitable central public sector enterprises into three tiers so that boards can spend without clearing every decision with a ministry. Miniratna comes first, in two categories; Navratna requires a score of 60 out of 100 on a set of financial and governance measures and gives autonomy up to roughly 1,000 crore rupees a project; Maharatna is reserved for companies already Navratna, listed on the stock exchange, and averaging more than 2,500 crore rupees of annual net profit over three years.
Read as a memory question this is hard, because all four are household names. Read as a tier question it becomes easy: the three oil-and-gas giants are exactly the size that pushes a company past the Maharatna profit threshold, while a defence electronics firm of BEL's turnover sits a rung below. The lists move, so anchor the answer to the exam and then update — as of 2025 there are fourteen Maharatna companies, with Hindustan Aeronautics among the more recent additions, and BEL remains a Navratna alongside twenty-eight others.
- Bharat Electronics Limited is a Navratna central public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Defence, headquartered in Bengaluru.
- Indian Oil, GAIL and Bharat Petroleum are all Maharatna companies.
- Maharatna status needs an average annual net profit above 2,500 crore rupees over three years, plus existing Navratna status and a stock exchange listing.
- Navratna status needs a score of 60 out of 100 on the Department of Public Enterprises criteria.
- BEL was the first defence public sector undertaking to be granted Mini Ratna Category-I status, in 2002.
Three of the four options are a tier above the one the question asks about, which is what makes the defence electronics company the answer.
- Assuming the biggest name must be the Navratna; size pushes a company up into Maharatna, not into Navratna.
- Forgetting that Maharatna status is built on Navratna status — every Maharatna was a Navratna first.
- Treating these lists as fixed; companies are promoted and the counts change between exam cycles.
As a which-company-holds-which-status item, or as a statements question on the criteria for Maharatna and Navratna grading.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following is a necessary condition for a central public sector enterprise to be granted Maharatna status?
- (a)It must be wholly owned by the Union Government
- (b)It must already have Navratna status
- (c)It must be under the Ministry of Finance
- (d)It must have been set up before 1991
Answer(b) It must already have Navratna status — along with a stock exchange listing and an average annual net profit above 2,500 crore rupees over three years.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Bharat Electronics Limited functions under which one of the following ministries?
- (a)Ministry of Heavy Industries
- (b)Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
- (c)Ministry of Defence
- (d)Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Answer(c) Ministry of Defence — BEL is a defence public sector undertaking making radars, avionics and weapon systems.