No applicant yet for Maharatna status

Two weeks after it sought applications for granting  'Maharatna' status along with greater autonomy for CPSUs, the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) has not received any response from the administrative ministries.

"We are awaiting response from the ministries concerned. Not even one (application) has come in yet. I am hoping that we will have some this week," Department of Public Enterprises Secretary Bhaskar Chatterjee told reporters on the sidelines of an exhibition organised by the Central Cottage Industries Corporation here today.

After the Cabinet had decided last December to grant more functional freedom in terms of investment and other key decision-making in December, the DPE had set up a screening committee for selecting the Maharatnas.

It had asked the administrative ministries to get the applications from CPSUs meeting the criteria for the new status.

At present, only ONGC, Indian Oil, SAIL and NTPC meet the norms set by the government. These include a three-year track record of annual net profit of over Rs 5,000 crore, networth of Rs 15,000 crore and turnover of Rs 25,000 crore, besides being listed on the stock exchanges.

A Maharatna CPSU would be able to take investment decisions up to Rs 5,000 crore without government nod against the current limit of Rs 1,000 crore for the Navratnas.

In all, there are 18 Navratnas, of which about four can be picked up the upgrades.