Paving the way for more financial autonomy and freedom in decision making for big ticket investments in India and abroad, the Central Government has granted ‘Maharatna' status to four giant public sector undertakings (PSUs) — NTPC, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).
“The competent authority has approved the grant of ‘Maharatna' status to IOC, NTPC, ONGC and SAIL,” says a notification issued by the Department of Public Enterprises.
However, while all four blue chip PSUs have been given the new status, only NTPC would be able to exercise it as it has the requisite number of non-official directors on its board.
