BHEL meets eligibility criteria for grant of Maharatna status

New Delhi: State-run BHEL is eligible to seek the Maharatna status, which would provide the power equipment maker with more financial autonomy, according to the Department of Public Enterprises.

“The company meets the eligibility criteria for grant of Maharatna status,” a Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) official said.

 "The company meets the eligibility criteria for grant of Maharatna status," a Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) official said.

A Maharatna PSU can take decisions for up to Rs 5,000 crore investment without the Cabinet approval. Currently, BHEL is a Navratna company which allows it to make investments only up to Rs 1,000 crore without the Cabinet nod.

The Heavy Industries Ministry, the administrative ministry of BHEL, has to first move the proposal for Maharatna status to the DPE, the official added.

To be eligible for Maharatna status, a public sector company should have an average annual net profit of over Rs 5,000 crore in the last three years, among others.

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As per the DPE guidelines, other eligibility norms include an average turnover of over Rs 25,000 crore as well as average net worth of more than Rs 15,000 crore in the last three financial years.

Last year, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) had sought the coveted status but it did not meet some of the eligibility criteria.

Now, the company meets Maharatna’s eligibility criteria in terms of average net profit, turnover and net worth for the past three financial years.

BHEL saw its net profit jump 14 percent to Rs 6,868 crore for the year ended March 2012. Net profit stood at Rs 6,011 crore in 2010-11 as compared

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to Rs 4,310 crore in the year-ago period.

While the turnover of the state-owned unit stood at Rs 49,301 crore in the last fiscal, the same was at Rs 43,337 crore in the previous fiscal. In 2009-10, the turnover touched Rs 34,050 crore.

Over the last three years, the company’s average net worth has been on the rise. The net worth of BHEL rose to Rs 24,947 crore in the last fiscal from Rs 20,154 crore in 2010-11. The same stood at Rs 15,917 crore in 2009-10 period.

In December 2009, the government had decided to provide more operational freedom for top-performing PSUs through the Maharatna scheme. Presently, there are five Maharatna companies - Oil and Natural Gas Corp, Indian Oil, SAIL, NTPC and CIL.

PTI