Maharatna tag for SAIL, ONGC & NTPC

The board of directors of public sector giants Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC) will now have the freedom to take investment decisions of up to Rs 5,000 crore on their own with the Union Cabinet on Thursday upgrading these companies to Maharatna status.


Earlier, these companies fell in the Navratna category along with the other companies such as Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) which have financial powers to invest up to Rs 1,000 crore without the government approval.

This was among the slew of economic decisions taken by the government on a hectic Thursday when the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) cleared a proposal to give 30 per cent of BSNL and MTNL orders for ailing public sector Indian Telephone Industries (ITI).

SAIL, ONGC and NTPC met the criteria for the new status set by the Centre, which included a three-year track record of an annual net profit of over Rs 5,000 crore, a net worth of Rs 15,000 crore and a turnover of Rs 25,000 crore.

The companies also had to be listed on the stock exchange.
The public sector undertakings (PSUs), which have the potential to become Indian multi-national companies (MNCs), can be recognised as a separate class as Maharatnas, Soni added.

In an attempt to revive lossmaking telecom equipment manufacturer ITI, the government approved a proposal under which the company will continue to get orders for 30 per cent of products requirement of BSNL and MTNL through the reservation quota.
BSNL and MTNL will also give a 70 per cent advance payment against orders placed on ITI. However, CCEA made it clear that ITI would accept orders under the reservation quota only after the price is known and is commercially viable.

The earlier reservation benefit of 30 per cent along with 70 per cent advance to ITI had expired on September 20, 2009. BSNL and MTNL have been asked to extend these benefits to ITI for one more year from September 21, 2009.

ITI incurred an accumulated loss of Rs 3,219 crore on March 31, 2009.
The government on Thursday gave cash- strapped Jet Airways the go-ahead to raise $400 million (around Rs 1,850 crore) from foreign investors. The proposal was approved by the CCEA. It had been recommended by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).

The proposal involves raising $400 million via equity investment through the qualified institutional placement (QIP) route from foreign institutional investors (FIIs), according to an official statement.
The government also approved developing 352 km of highways with an investment of Rs 2,973 crore. The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure approved two or four-laning of 163.5 km of Ranchi-Argaon-Jamshedpur section of National Highway-33 in Jharkhand at an estimated cost of Rs 1,011 crore. The Committee also approved four or six-laning of 71.4 km stretch on NH-8A from Gandhidham to Mundra Port in Gujarat at a cost of Rs 953.88 crore.

The proposal for four-laning of 117.60 km of NH-59 between Ahmedabad and Godhara in Gujarat at an investment of Rs 1,008.5 crore was approved.
Four-laning of 117.60 km of NH-59 between Ahmedabad and Godhara, Gujarat at an investment of Rs 1,008.5 crore.