The
government-owned corporations are termed as Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs)
in India. In a PSU, majority (51% or
more) of the paid up share capital is held by central government or by any
state government or partly by the central governments and partly by one or more
state governments. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has the
power to appoint the Auditor and to direct the manner in which the Auditor
shall audit the company's accounts.
Post-Independence,
India was grappling with grave socio-economic problems, such as inequalities in
income and low levels of employment, regional imbalances in economic
development and lack of trained manpower, weak industrial base, inadequate
investments and infrastructure facilities, etc. Hence, the roadmap for PSUs was
developed as an instrument for self-reliant economic growth. The country
adopted planned economic development polices, which envisaged the evolution of
PSUs. They can be classified as Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs), Central
Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and Public Sector Banks (PSBs).
On basis
of certain performance criteria, CPSEs can attain the status of - Maharatna,
Navratna, and Miniratna. These prestigious titles provide them greater autonomy
for their board particularly to take investment decision without referring them
to their respective ministry and cabinet and help them to compete in the global
market.
A
company having certain performance criteria including profitability over last 3
years and having an average annual turnover of Rs. 20,000 crore with an average annual net worth at Rs. 10,000 crore is categorised under the Maharatna. This status
empowers mega CPSEs to expand their operations and emerge as global giants. It
also empowers their board to take investment decisions up to Rs. 5,000 crore without seeking government approval. These firms
can decide on investments up to 15% of
their net worth in a project, limited to an absolute ceiling of Rs. 5,000 crore.
The
Navratna, status empowers PSEs to invest up to Rs. 1000 crore or 15% of
their net worth on a single project without seeking government approval. In a
year, these companies can spend up to 30% of
their net worth not exceeding Rs. 1000 cr
For Miniratna - Category I, the CPSE should have continuously
made profit in the last three years and the pre-tax profit should have been Rs.
30 crores or more in at least
one of the three years. For Category
II, the CPSE should have continuously made profit for the last three years and
should have a positive net worth. Miniratnas have autonomy to incur the capital
expenditure without government approval up to Rs. 500 Rs. 300 crore or up to 50% of their net worth whichever is lower,
respectively depending on their category.
The Government provides Public Sector Enterprises
(PSEs/PSUs) the necessary flexibility and autonomy to operate effectively in a
competitive environment. The Boards of Navratna and Miniratna companies are entrusted with powers in
order to facilitate further improvement in their performance. The Government
has also issued guidelines on Corporate Social Responsibility for CPSEs. The PSUs
serve the interest of society by taking responsibility for the impact of their
activities on customers, employees, shareholders, communities and the
environment in all aspects of their operations.
0 comments:
Post a Comment