PUBLIC SECTOR COMPANIES

A public company is one in which 51 per cent or more stake is owned by the government. Public sector companies can be broadly classified into :

I. Navratna Companies

l	The Government of India had in 1997 identified 11 public sector undertakings as Navratna companies or crown jewels.
l	The Board of Directors of those companies can approve all decisions relating to capital expenditure and no separate clearance is required from the government.
l	In case of equity acquisitions in a joint venture company, a Navratna company can take an independent decision for investments up to Rs. 1,000 crore. But the investment is subject to the condition that the total investment in all such joint ventures is below 30% of the net worth of the Navratna Company.
l	At present there are 9 Navratna companies as IPCL & VSNL have been privatized by the government.
l	In addition to the Navratna companies, the government of India has created another category called Mini - Ratna. The Mini-Ratna designation applies to PSU’s that have made profits continuously for the last 3 years or have earned a net profit of Rs. 30 crores or more in three years.

1. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL)

l	BHEL is the largest engineering and manufacturing enterprise in India, in the energy related infrastructure sector today.
l	It was established more than 40 years ago in 1962.
l	BHEL manufactures over 180 products under 30 major product groups and caters to core sectors of the Indian Economy viz. power generation & transmission, transportation, telecommunication and renewable energy.
l	BHEL has acquired certifications for quality management systems (ISO 9001), environmental management systems (ISO 14001) and Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMS) 18001).

Headquarter
Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd. (BHEL) is headquartered at New Delhi.

Present Management
Mr. K. Ravi Kumar is the present Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of BHEL.
Products and Services Offered
BHEL offers a wide range of products for:

l	power sector
l	industrial production
l	transmission and transportation sectors
l	non-conventional energy sources
l	R & D products

The company offers services in

l	Power Generation Systems
l	transmission systems
l	transportation systems
l	industrial systems.

2. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL)

l	The Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) was established on 1st of April, 1986.
l	The company was set up to take over the management, control and operation of Delhi Telephone District and Mumbai Telephone District.
l	It is a public limited company largely owned by the Government of India (GOI).

Headquarters
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) is headquartered at New Delhi, India.

Present Management
Mr. R. S. P. Sinha is the Chairman & Managing Director of MTNL.

Services Offered
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) provides fixed line telephone services, cellular services – both GSM & WLL and internet services through both Dial -Up & Digital Subscriber Loop (DSL).

3. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL)

l	HPCL came into existence in 1974 after the takeover and merger of the erstwhile Esso and Lube India undertaking by the government.
l	In 1976, Caltex Oil Refinery India Ltd. was taken over by the government and was subsequently merged with HPCL in 1978.
l	In 1979, Kosan Gas Company was taken over and merged with HPCL and a single entity HPCL came into existence.
l	Today, HPCL is the second largest oil company in India and is one of the largest PSU companies in terms of revenue.
l	It is also one of the Fortune 500 companies of the world, ranked at 290th position.

Headquarters
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) is headquartered at Mumbai.

Present Management
Mr. Arun Balakrishnan is the present Chairman and MD.

Products and Services Offered
The product/service offerings by the company include

l	Refined oil for industrial use and export
l	LPG for domestic consumption offered through its subsidiary HP gas
l	Lubricants for domestic consumption, industrial consumption and exports
l	Bulk fuels and specialties for industrial consumers like power plants, chemical companies, fertilizer companies and shipping companies
l	Aviation fuel and Lubricants
l	Products and services for retail customers which it markets through Club HP outlets

4. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL)

l	Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) was founded in 1976 by the Government of India, when it acquired the Burma Shell group of companies. It was on 1st August, 1977, that the company was renamed Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited.
l	BPCL was also the first refinery to process newly found indigenous crude in the country (at Bombay High.).
l	BPCL is one of the Fortune 500 companies of the world currently ranked at 325th position.

Headquarters
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) is headquartered at Mumbai.

Present Management
Mr. Ashok Sinha is the present Chairman and MD of BPCL.
Products and Services Offered
The product/service offerings of the company include

l	Refined oil for industry and export
l	LPG for domestic consumption offered through its subsidiary Bharat Gas
l	Lubricants for domestic consumption, industrial consumption and exports.
l	Fuels and solvents, industrial services and e-business facilities for commercial units.
l	Aviation fuel and lubricants.
l	Retail services - at petrol pumps, speed fuels, in & out stores, petro – card, smart fleet card and ‘Pure for Sure’

5. GAIL (India) Limited

l	GAIL (India) ltd. (Erstwhile Gas Authority of India Ltd.), India’s principal gas transmission and Marketing Company, was established by the government of India on August 16, 1984.
l	The company entered into LPG business in February 1991.
l	It began city gas distribution in Delhi in 1997 by setting up the first CNG station.
l	GAIL commissioned its petrochemicals plant in March 1999 at Pata.

Headquarter
GAIL (India) Ltd. is headquartered at New Delhi.

Present Management
Mr. B.C.Tripathi is the present Chairman and Managing Director of GAIL (India) Ltd.

Product and Services Offered
Apart from marketing of

l	gas
l	city gas
l	CNG
GAIL (India) Ltd. has presence in various other product areas. It offers
l	petrochemical products
l	telecom services
l	Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)
l	power
l	exploration and production of gas and holds participatory interest in 12 exploration blocks in the country.

6. Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL)

l	Indian Oil Corporation Limited was founded in 1964 through a merger of Indian Oil Company Ltd. and Indian Refineries Ltd.
l	In 1965, Gujarat Refinery was inaugurated.
l	In 1967, Haldia Barauni Pipeline was commissioned.
l	In 1969, the company undertook the marketing of Madras Refinery Products. ‘Servo’ the first indigenous lubricant was launched in 1972.
l	In 1995, Kandla – Bhatinda Pipeline started operations and IOCL launched Indane Home Shoppe.
l	In 1997 the company entered into LNG business through a JV company, Petronet LNG.
l	IOCL, in 2000 became the first Indian company to achieve the turnover of Rs. 1,00,000 crore.
l	In 2001, Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (CPCL) and Bongaigaon Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. (BRPL) were acquired by the company.
l	In 2003, Lanka IOC Pvt. Ltd. (LIOC) was launched in Sri Lanka.

Headquarter
Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) is headquartered at New Delhi.

Present Management
Mr. Sarthak Behuria is the present chairman and MD of IOCL.

Products and Services Offered
The product/service offerings of the company include:

l	Refined oil for industrial use and export purposes.
l	LPG for domestic consumption offered by its subsidiary Indane Gas.
l	Lubricants for domestic consumption, industrial consumption and export.
l	Aviation fuel and lubricants.
l	Auto gas – company’s LPG variant which has been launched in selected markets in India.
l	Retail services - at petrol pumps, Xtrapower products for customers and ‘Swagat’ highway flagship retail outlets.

7. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)

l	In 1955, the Government of India decided to develop oil and natural gas resources in various areas of the country. With this objective, an Oil and Natural Gas Directorate was set up.
l	In August 1956, the directorate was raised to the state of Commission with enhanced power, but was still under the direct control of the government.
l	In October 1959, the commission was converted into a statutory body by an Act of the Indian parliament and ONGC was formed.
l	Since its formation, ONGC has carried out its activities in various parts of the country and also started its overseas operations. The company went offshore in early 70’s when it discovered an oil field at Bombay High.
l	In 1994, ONGC was re-organised as a limited company under the Company Act of 1956.
l	In 2002 ONGC purchased Mangalore Refinery Pvt. Ltd. (MRPL) from AV Birla group. It also entered the global market in 2003 through its subsidiary ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL).
l	The company has also made investments in Vietnam, Sakhlin (Russia) and Sudan and earned its first revenue from the hydrocarbon business in Vietnam.
l	ONGC is currently ranked 369th on the fortune 500 list.

Headquarter
ONGC is headquartered in Dehradun.

Present Management
Mr. R. S. Sharma is the Chairman and Managing Director of the company.

Products and Services offered

l	ONGC’s diverse activities are handled through the holding company ONGC India and its two subsidiaries ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) and Mangalore Refinery Pvt. Ltd (MRPL).
l	ONGC India offers a diversified range of petroleum by-products used mainly for industrial purpose.
l	ONGC Videsh Llimited (OVL), the company’s overseas arm is engaged is exploration and production activities outside the territorial boundaries of the country.
l	The company’s subsidiary MRPL produces refined petroleum and by-products used by industrial units and for export purposes.

8. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)

l	Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd was formed in October, 2000.
l	It is the largest telecommunication company in India providing comprehensive range of telecom services.
l	BSNL is the largest fixed line service provider in the country having operations across India except Mumbai and Delhi.

Headquarters
BSNL is headquartered in New Delhi

Present Management
Mr. Kuldeep Goyal is the present Chairman and Managing Director of the company.

Products/Services Offered
BSNL offers a wide range of service to its customers. These include:

l	Fixed line telephony service
l	Internet service, both Dial-up and Broadband
l	Message carrier services
l	VSAT and VOIP services
l	Intelligent Network (I.N) services

9. Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL)

l	Steel Authority of India Limited is the leading steel-making company in India. Incorporated on Jan 23, 1973.
l	Ranked amongst the top ten public sector companies in India in terms of turnover, SAIL is a fully integrated iron and steel maker.
l	SAIL produces iron and steel at 5 steel plants located at Bhilai, Bokaro, Durgapur, Rourkela and Asansol (West Bengal).
l	SAIL featured in 2005 list of Forbes Global 2000 ranked at 764th position.

Headquarter
SAIL is headquartered in New Delhi

Present Management
Mr. S K Roongta is the present Chairman of the company

Products offered
A broad range of steel products is offered by the company. These include:

l	Hot and cold - rolled sheets and coils
l	Galvanised sheets.
l	Electrical sheets and structures.
l	Railway product.
l	Iron plates, bars and rods.
l	Stainless steel and other steel alloys.

The company clientele include construction companies, engineering companies, power companies, engineering companies, railways industry, automobile companies, defense industries and importers from other countries.

II. Other Important Public Sector Undertaking’s (PSU’s)

1. Indian Railways

l	Indian Railway is owned by the GOI. It is one of the largest and busiest rail networks in the world, transporting over six billion of passengers and freight worth INR 750 million annually.
l	Railways were introduced in India in 16th April 1853 when the first railway line between Bombay and Thane became operational.
l	By the year 1947, there were forty-two rail systems in the country. All the units were nationalised into a single unit, Indian Railway in 1951, making it one of the largest rail networks in the world.
l	Presently, both the long distance and suburban rail systems in India are operated by the Indian Railways.
l	The Indian rail network is spread over a distance of 63,140 km, operational on broad metre gauge and narrow metre gauge (The Calcutta Metro is also owned and operated by Indian Railways).

Railway Zones

For administrative purposes, Indian railways are divided into sixteen functional zones

These are:

Zone	Headquarter
Northern Railway	Delhi
North Eastern Railway	Gorakhpur
Eastern Railway	Maligaon
South Eastern Railway	Kolkata
South Central Railway	Secunderabad
Southern Railway	Chennai
Central Railway	Mumbai
Western Railway	Mumbai
South Western Railway	Hubli
North Western Railway	Jaipur
West Central Railway	Jabalpur
North Central Railway	Allahabad
South East Control Railway	Bilaspur
East Coast Railway	Bhubaneswar
East Control Railway	Hajipur

Railway Production Units
In addition to its operation of trains, Indian Railway also carries out its own production services. It owns six production units each headed by General Manager who reports to the Railways Board. These production units are:

l	Chittaranjan Locomotive Works at Chittaranjan, West Bengal
l	Diesel Locomotive factory at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
l	Integral coach factory at Perambur, Tamil Nadu.
l	Rail coach factory at Kapurthala, Punjab
l	Rail wheel factory at Yelahanka (near Bangalore) Karnataka.
l	Diesel modernization works at Patiala, Punjab.

Notable Achievement of Indian Railways
Some of the notable achievements of Indian railways are:

l	The Darjeeling Himalayan Railways, Nilgiri Mountain Railway and Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus (railway station in Mumbai) are all world heritage sites accredited by UNESCO.
l	Samjhauta Express and Thar express are two trains run by Indian Railway that connect India and Pakistan.
l	‘Lifeline Express’ is a hospital on wheels providing healthcare facilities to people in rural areas.
l	‘Kharagpur’ railway station has the largest railway platform in the World, while ‘ib’ is the shortest name for a station and longest name is Sri Venkatanarasimharajauvaripeta.

Present Management
Presently, Ms. Mamata Banerjee is the Union Railway Minister of the Government of India. Indian Railway also enjoys the distinction of being the world’s largest employer with more than 16 million employees. Mr. S.S.Khurana is the present Chairman of Indian Railways.

2. Air India

l	Air India was originally founded as Tata Airlines in 1932, a subsidiary of Tata Sons Ltd by J.R.D. Tata.
l	In 1946, government of India purchased a majority stake in Tata Airlines and the company was renamed Air-India International.
l	Air-India International was registered on March 8, 1948 and inaugurated its international service on June 8, 1948 with a weekly flight between Mumbai and London. The word ‘International’ was dropped by the company in 1962.
l	In 1994, the airline was renamed as Air India Limited.
l	Air India has recently started with “Air India Express”, the low cost variant of Air India.
l	Indian Airlines since 2007 has been amalgamated to be a part of Air India. Air India is now an amalgamation of Air India Limited and Indian Airlines.

Headquarter
The company is headquartered at Mumbai.

Present Management
Mr. Aravind Jadhav is the present Chairman & MD of Air India.
Fleet and Network
At present Air India has 45 aircrafts which include Boeing 747’s, Airbus 310’s, Airbus 300’s and
Boeing 777’s. The airline operates its flight on all major international air routes and on some important domestic air routes. The airline at present covers 42 destinations - 29 international air routes and 13 domestic air routes.

3. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)

l	Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is a major aerospace company under the Ministry of Defence. It was established as Hindustan Aircraft in 1940 by Walchand Hirachand, backed by the Kingdom of Mysore to produce aircrafts in the country.
l	In April 1942, British government bought out the stake of Walchand Hirachand and some other promoters. The buyout helped the Britishers greatly during the second world war.
l	The kingdom of Mysore however, did not sell its stake in the company. Thus, the company was nationalized in 1944. The company acquired its present name in 1964.
l	In 2006, the company entered into a joint venture with Samtel for developing and manufacturing Avionics Display system.
l	This is the first public – private partnership in the area of defence avionics (aviation communication).
l	The first military aircraft constructed in South Asia was built by HAL.

Headquarters
HAL is headquartered at Bangalore, Karnataka.

Present Management
Mr. Ashok Nayak is the present Chairman of HAL.

Products Offered
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is currently involved in the

l	design
l	assembly of aircrafts
l	jet engines
l	helicopters and their components and spares parts
l	communication and navigation equipment
l	HAL has collaboration with Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to produce aerospace equipment for the latter.