The government of India has upgraded IRCTC ( Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd.) and IRFC (Indian Railway Finance Corporation) to Navratna status. Both the IRFC and IRCTC were earlier Schedule 'A' Miniratna CPSE.

IRCTC becomes the 25th central public sector enterprise (CPSE) to be accorded the status of Navratna while IRFC becomes the 26th CPSE to be accorded the Navratna status .

The Department of Public Enterprises under the Union Ministry of Finance in a social media post on 3rd March 2025 gave this information.

The government of India grants Maharatna, Navratna, and Mini-Ratna status to its profit-making CPSEs to make them more efficient and competitive.

Seventh Railway CPSE to get Navratna Status

The Union Ministry of Railways has 12 CPSEs. Out of the 12, seven CPSEs - Concor, RVNL, IRCON, RITES, RailTel, IRFC and IRCTC have been given Navratna status.

The first Railway CPSE to get the Navratna status was Concor in 2014.

All the railway CPSEs are profit-making enterprises.

Benefits of being a Navratna Company

A Navratna CPSE enjoys substantial managerial and financial autonomy.

Some of the benefits are as follows:

No need for central government approval for investments up to Rs 1,000 crore or 15% of their net worth in a single project.
No need for central government approval for entering into technology joint ventures or strategic alliances with other companies.
They can establish financial joint ventures and wholly owned subsidiaries in India or abroad under certain terms and conditions.

Eligibility Criteria to be a Navratna CPSE

A CPSE has to satisfy the following conditions to get the Navratna status:

The CPSEs already have Schedule A Miniratna status,
A Memorandum of Understanding rating of ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’ in three of the last five years,
At least a composite score of 60 or above in the identified six performance indicators.

List of Navratna CPSEs

Following is the list of the 26 CPSE that have been accorded Navratna Status.

Bharat Electronics Limited
Container Corporation of India Limited
Engineers India Limited
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited
National Aluminium Company Limited
National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited
Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited
NMDC Limited
Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited
Shipping Corporation of India Limited
Rail Vikas Nigam Limited
ONGC Videsh Ltd
Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Limited
IRCON
RITES
National Fertilizers Limited
Central Warehousing Corporation
Housing & Urban Development Corporation Limited
Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited
Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited
Railtel Corporation of India Limited
Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) Ltd.
NHPC Limited
SJVN Limited
IRCTC
IRFC

About IRFC

The Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) was set up on 12th December 1986.

It mobilises funds from domestic as well as overseas capital Markets for Railways.

It is registered as Systemically Important Non–Deposit taking Non Banking Financial Company (NBFC – ND-SI) and Infrastructure Finance Company (NBFC- IFC) with Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

CMD and CEO: Manoj Kumar Dubey

Headquarters: New Delhi

About IRCTC

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC) was set up on 27th September 1999.

Its core functions are: Catering & Hospitality: Internet Ticketing booking of Railways, Travel & Tourism and Packaged Drinking Water (Rail Neer).

Chairman and Managing Director (CMD): Sanjay Kumar Jain

Headquarters: New Delhi