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Top 10 Public Sector (PSU) Companies in India 2018

Published by MBA Skool Team in Top Brands category Last Updated: May 18, 2020Read time:

India has some of the biggest companies in the world. And some of these leading companies are government run organizations. These public sector companies are present in the area of oil & gas, electricity, coal, power etc. These Indian PSU companies have a strong workforce, and owing to the large population served, these are one of the highest revenue and profit making companies in India. The top PSU companies in India include IOCL, BPCL, HPCL, Coal India followed by ONGC, NTPC, BHEL etc. Here is a list of the top 10 public sector (PSU) companies in India 2018 as per revenue.


Top PSU India 2018 by Revenue:


10) Power Finance Corporation

This company is the finance company among the power companies and basically it is a financial institution.


Image: company website

The company has been awarded the KPMG- Infrastructure award recognizing the contribution towards development of the entire power sector. It is a Navratna company and the company’s funds are mainly sourced through the rupee denominated bonds.

The credit rating of the company is very good both in India and abroad and therefore it can get and thereby give credit very easily and at cheap rates. There is also much of the short term borrowing activity that takes place within this company from other companies, banks and financial institutions. There are also records showing that this company has received ECB from the USA market and this is through the private placement route. Initially the operations were limited to giving credit to companies that were directly linked to the power sector but then of late the company is giving credit to those which have even a remote connection to power sector like the coal sector companies and generation companies. The Ultra-Mega power plants program of the government along with the R-APDRP program are the activity centers of this company. The main subsidiary of this company is the PFC consulting ltd, which is basically a wholly owned subsidiary and this company provides fee-based consulting services.

Revenues (INR Cr): 27611

Profits (INR Cr.): 2236

9) BHEL

This is a manufacturing and an engineering company that is founded by the government of India in the year 1964 and is headquartered in Delhi.


Image: Wikimedia

This also is a Maharatna company, and it produces electrical and mechanical equipment for various sectors which also include transportation like the railways, and transmission, oil and gas and other supporting industries. The major source of revenue is the sale of the required equipment for the necessary generation of power like turbines and boilers. Also, it supplied defence equipment like the Super Rapid Gun Mount naval guns to the Indian armed forces apart from the simulators which again was provided by BHEL. The main activities of this company are engineering, design, testing, servicing and commissioning products to sectors like defence, oil and natural gas, transportation, renewable energy etc. The company has about 19 functional units for manufacturing and there are 5 regional offices of this company. It has a market share of 75% in the power sector. Continuous project management is of the essence for this company considering the various number of projects that it takes up at any given point of time. The exports of this company are again impressive with a client base across 76 countries which are spread over 6 continents.

Revenues (INR Cr): 29211

Profits (INR Cr.): 457

8) Power Grid Corporation

This is a power utilities company incorporated on October 23, 1989 and is based in Gurugram, India.


Image: company website

PGC transmits around 50% of the entire power that is generated in India. The former subsidiary power system operation corporation limited handled the management of the power on the grid previously and there is also a telecom business of this company under the name POWERTEL. The original name was National Power Transmission Corporation Limited. The company is involved in other activities like the executing, designing, planning, operating, and maintenance of transmission systems. Initially the company was operating on a management basis and then later on it took over the assets of NTPC, NEEPCO, NHPC, THDC etc. slowly and commenced operation later. This company is also responsible for establishing and operationalizing the regional and national power grids. These power grids were required for the transfer of power within the regions with both stability and reliability and all the while safety. When the three companies were merged to form power grid the employees of these companies became the employees of power grid. The facilitation of power across all the grids was done by this company.

Revenues (INR Cr): 26638

Profits (INR Cr.): 7450

7) GAIL

The company is headquartered in Delhi and was incorporated in august 1984 but started the operations in gas sector in 1997.


Image: company website

The main activities of this company are natural gas, liquid hydrocarbon, LPG, transportation, transmission, marketing, distribution, generation of gas. GAIL occupied the 131st place among India’s most trusted brands according to the study conducted by the brand trust report. The areas where the blocks are located for this company are Krishna, Godavari, Cauvery, Assam-Arakan and Mahanadi. GAIL has also entered the telecom business lately apart from the venturing into sectors like deep water exploration etc. The largest pipeline of India is owned by GAIL. This is a cross-country pipeline with a total length of about 2300 km. The total pipeline length that this company owns is 11000 km spread across all the 22 states in India. The company also has seven LPG plants. It has a market share of 70% in gas transmission and marketing. The main subsidiaries are the GAIL gas limited, Brahmaputra cracker ad polymer limited, GAIL global pte limited, GAIL global (Singapore) pte limited, GAIL global (USA) and few joint ventures are Aavantika gas limited, Bhagyanagar gas limited, green gas limited, Indraprastha gas limited etc.

Revenues (INR Cr): 49790

Profits (INR Cr.): 3368

6) NTPC

This is a government company and the main activity of this company is generation of electricity.


Image: Wikimedia

Based out of Delhi, the company generates electricity, ensure distribution pan-India and then sells it to the government. It is also involved in activities like consultancy, project management, operation and management of plants. This company has 16% of the total capacity but produces 25% of the total need because of operating efficiencies that it focuses on. It produces 25 billion units of electricity in a month. The government holds approximately 65% of the total stake in this company. It also occupied the 300th position in the Forbes global list. The main joint venture of this company is with Ratnagiri gas and power private limited. Another way which it gets its revenues is through the hydro-electric power plants. The goal of the company is to become a 128000 MW company at least by 2032. The target is to now add around 14058 MW in its next plan. The turning points for this company came when it signed up with Sri Lanka and Ceylon electricity board for the setting up of a plant on their land so as to increase another 500 MW. another major MOU was signed with Japan which will enable the company to establish an alliance for the flow of information in these areas. These major steps along with a few more will catapult the company into a different growth trajectory.

Revenues (INR Cr): 83819

Profits (INR Cr.): 10719

5) Coal India limited

This company is the largest company in the world producing coal and these operations are done mostly through the 80 odd mining centers spanning across eight states in India.


Image: otv

More than 80% of the total coal production in India is done by Coal India Limited and is one of the largest in the world also. This company is controlled by the union government of India and also it was granted Maharatna status in the year 2011. It provides employment to around 335000 people under it. 50% of the total expenditure it incurred in a year was because of employee benefits. In order to acquire more coal blocks in and around India a joint venture with NTPC was formed in 2010 as a 50-50 partnership. The company initially had only 5 subsidiaries and then later on over the years it now has 7 wholly owned subsidiaries and another subsidiary which provides consultancy services for activities like planning, exploration etc. to all the other seven subsidiaries. There is also a wholly owned subsidiary in Mozambique, Africa; which is for the purpose of searching for coal mining in that country. The main blot on this company is what happened in 2011 when it was found that it was operating approximately 240 mines without any sort of environmental clearances whatsoever. It however claimed that the request for clearance was submitted to the Ministry of environment and forests; but this reason was not satisfying to the judiciary system in India.

Revenues (INR Cr): 124976

Profits (INR Cr.): 9265

4) ONGC

This company is headquartered in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. This is controlled by the ministry of petroleum and natural gas.


Image: Wikimedia

This company fulfills the demand of around 30% of the total demand in the country and produces about 80% of the total supply in the market. It is also the largest traded public-sector company in India. In a particular year it was noted to be the most profitable company in India among the public-sector companies and also it occupied the 1st position in the top 250 global energy companies. ONGC has their operations across about 17 countries all over the world. This includes refining, marketing, transportation, drilling, production and development of alternative energy resources along with petroleum products. The major joint ventures to be talked about when it comes to ONGC is ONGC Tripura power company and ONGC Petro additions limited. The primary products of ONGC are crude oil and the natural gas. The assets of this company are in short looked at by the number of basins, plants, refineries etc. ONGC Videsh limited, a company that is responsible for all the foreign operations of ONGC acquired Talisman Energy’s 25% equity shares in a project called the great Nile oil project. After SBI this is the only second company that got a coin issued in its commemoration of the 50th anniversary. In 2012 ONGC made an announcement that they had found an oil field which would make its overall capacity increase drastically. From then on, the profits also have never dipped.

Revenues (INR Cr): 136367

Profits (INR Cr.): 20497

3) HPCL

HPCL is one of the largest companies in India. Oil and natural gas corporation owns around 51.11% shares in HPCL.


Image: company website

This company stands at 360+ place on the fortune global 500 list of the largest companies in the world in 2016. it has around 25% market share in India’s petroleum needs, and the refining capacity was 5.5 million metric tonnes in 1985 and this has increased over the years to almost around 15 metric tonnes in 2013. Even the profits of the company are fairly studied. This company was formed after the merger and acquisition by Esso Standard and Lube India limited. Also, the company has been nationalized and only a majority in the parliament can privatize this company. The main production centers of this company are in Mumbai and Vishakhapatnam. Other areas in which the production centers exist are Barmer, Mangalore, Bathinda etc. HPCL has the one of the biggest refinery which produces lube base oils. These are of international standard and this refinery satisfies a total of 40% of the overall lube production and that too in more than 100 varieties. There are 13 zonal offices and approximately 100 other regional offices. The marketing of this company is phenomenal. All the operations of the company are supported by a very good technology at the back end. The IT center for this company is in Hyderabad. HPCL was once upon a time 10th most valuable brand in India according to a survey done by economic times.

Revenues (INR Cr): 191196

Profits (INR Cr.): 8235

2) BPCL

This is another Maharatna company which is headquartered in Mumbai.


Image: company website

The two most important refineries of this company are located in Mumbai and Kochi, and it once occupied 350+ place in the fortune global 500 list of the world’s biggest companies. This company had the support from the international player- shell. Therefore, the initial years growth was not a problem. It was incorporated on November 3rd in the year 1952. The refinery in Mumbai was responsible for introducing the LPG cooking fuel to the homes of the people. The company saw a good turning point when it introduces the Beyond LPG offer to the Bharat gas customers. This service is accompanied with value added services and discounts which was launched only in two cities at a initial stage. Then later on it again capitalized on differentiation and value proposition by introducing speed petrol in Vishakhapatnam for the new age vehicles. It also partnered with companies like HUL and Honda which are not even in the same business as that of BPCL. Apart from these strategic ventures it also signed a partnership agreement with ONGC so that they could extract advantages in activities like exploration. Innovation for this company was always at the top priority and so the outcomes were sometimes in the form of vehicle care centers, speed97 etc. all in all the company has good growth potential.

Revenues (INR Cr): 204241

Profits (INR Cr.): 9506

1) IOCL

This company is one of the top most public-sector companies in India and also it was ranked 1st in the fortune India 500 list.


Image: company website

Also, IOCL secured the 160+ place in the fortune’s global 500 list of the world’s largest companies for 2017. The company employs more than 33000 people and at least half of these employees are in management positions. The company is into refining, exploration, and marketing and transportation of petroleum products. Mainly the activity is the refining of petroleum. Recently the company has put its money in alternative energy solutions. It has a very strong research and development arm in Faridabad, Delhi NCR. The company has subsidiaries in many countries and some of them also include the ones in Sri Lanka and Mauritius. The company is still on the lookout for strategic partnerships in the middle east and for exploration. In India itself the company has got partnerships with around 20 players. It accounts for almost more than half of the total demand and market share of petroleum in India. It operates 11 refineries out of the total 23 refineries that are operational in India. It recently had a partnership with ola and started a charging station which was the first in India. This single step towards innovative solutions and coping with the need of the hour always ensures that this company is on the top of the list of India’s best public-sector companies.

Revenues (INR Cr): 359822

Profits (INR Cr.): 19849


Ranking Methodology:

1. Consider the largest PSU companies in India

2. Parameters like revenues and profits are taken and given weightages of 0.6 and 0.4

3. The score is calculated and the final rankings are evaluated.

This article has been researched & authored by the Content & Research Team which comprises of MBA students, management professionals, and industry experts. It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.

Browse similar company lists across 50 sectors. The top brand lists category covers rankings of companies based on various parameters.

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