The Navratna status is one of the most prestigious designations granted by the Government of India to its high-performing Central Public Sector Enterprises. Companies with Navratna status are granted significant financial and operational autonomy, including the power to make investment decisions up to Rs 1,000 crore without prior government approval, enter into joint ventures, and expand operations globally without constant ministerial oversight. As of 2026, there are 26 Navratna companies in India following the addition of IRCTC and IRFC in early 2025 and four companies — RailTel, Solar Energy Corporation of India, NHPC, and SJVN — elevated in late 2024. These companies span infrastructure, energy, finance, defence, and services, and collectively represent the most capable tier of India’s public sector enterprise ecosystem. Let us have a look at the top 10 Navratna companies in India for the year 2026.
1. Power Finance Corporation Limited (PFC)
Power Finance Corporation Limited, established in the year 1986 and headquartered in New Delhi, is India’s largest non-banking financial company and the principal financing arm of the Indian power sector, with assets exceeding Rs 9 lakh crore in FY2025. The company has reported remarkable profitability in FY2026 with strong loan book growth driven by India’s massive power infrastructure expansion across generation, transmission, and distribution. PFC finances power projects across thermal, hydro, nuclear, and renewable energy categories and plays a central role in India’s push toward 500 GW of renewable energy capacity.
PFC serves state electricity boards, private power developers, transmission companies, and distribution utilities with project finance, infrastructure bonds, and advisory services, and is the most financially powerful Navratna company in India by assets and the primary enabler of India’s trillion-dollar power sector investment cycle.
2. Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC)
Rural Electrification Corporation Limited, founded in the year 1969 and headquartered in New Delhi, is a flagship government infrastructure finance company that has evolved from rural electrification lending into a comprehensive power sector financial institution with a loan book exceeding Rs 5 lakh crore. The company is a subsidiary of PFC and functions as a Navratna NBFC financing thermal and renewable energy projects, transmission networks, power distribution system upgrades, and smart metering under the RDSS program. REC bonds are among the most widely subscribed infrastructure bonds in India.
REC serves state electricity utilities, private power project developers, renewable energy companies, and the government’s RDSS smart metering program with project finance and infrastructure lending, and its consistent dividend payments and high return on equity make it one of the most financially rewarding Navratna companies for institutional investors.
3. Container Corporation of India Limited (CONCOR)
Container Corporation of India Limited, established in the year 1988 as a subsidiary of Indian Railways and headquartered in New Delhi, is India’s leading multimodal logistics company operating 61 inland container depots and container freight stations nationwide with 5.4 million TEU throughput and Rs 15,666 crore in revenue. The company connects India’s manufacturing heartland to its major ports through its rail-based containerised freight network, and is the backbone of India’s export-import logistics chain. CONCOR handles approximately 70 percent of all container traffic on Indian Railways.
CONCOR serves importers and exporters, shipping lines, freight forwarders, and e-commerce logistics operators with its pan-India network of container handling facilities and rail-based freight services, and is an irreplaceable piece of India’s logistics infrastructure that serves both the Make in India manufacturing ecosystem and the national export competitiveness agenda.
4. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL)
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited, established in the year 1986 and headquartered in New Delhi, is the government-owned telecommunications company providing services in the country’s two most important metropolitan areas — Delhi and Mumbai. Despite facing intense competition from private telecom operators, MTNL retains Navratna status and a significant enterprise and government connectivity customer base in these critical markets. The company has been undertaking strategic restructuring and network modernisation with government support to improve its operational efficiency.
MTNL serves individual subscribers, government institutions, and enterprise customers in Delhi and Mumbai with its fixed-line, broadband, and mobile services, and retains strategic importance as a government-owned telecommunications provider in India’s two most economically significant cities despite the competitive pressures from private sector operators.
5. Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited (RCF)
Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited, established in the year 1978 and headquartered in Mumbai, is a public sector fertilizer manufacturer producing urea, complex fertilisers, industrial chemicals, and micronutrients at its plants in Mumbai and Thal. The company is one of India’s most important fertiliser producers and plays a strategic role in ensuring food security by supplying affordable fertilisers to India’s millions of farmers. RCF’s industrial chemicals division produces a range of specialty chemicals for pharmaceutical, textile, and other industrial applications.
RCF serves Indian farmers with subsidised urea and complex fertilisers, agricultural cooperatives, and industrial chemical buyers with its specialty chemicals, and is a strategically critical public sector enterprise in India’s agricultural supply chain given the government’s mandate to ensure affordable fertiliser availability to support domestic food production.
6. National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC)
National Mineral Development Corporation, established in the year 1958 and headquartered in Hyderabad, is India’s largest iron ore producer and a key pillar of the country’s steel and mining industry, with production capacity of approximately 50 million tonnes of iron ore annually from its mines in Chhattisgarh and Karnataka. NMDC also has interests in diamond mining and is developing India’s first integrated steel plant at Nagarnar, Chhattisgarh with a capacity of 3 million tonnes per annum. The company’s rich ore deposits and government backing make it one of the most strategically important mining companies in India.
NMDC serves India’s steel mills and iron ore export markets with high-quality iron ore fines and lumps from its world-class ore deposits, and its upcoming Nagarnar Steel Plant adds significant value-added processing capability that will transform it from a mining company into a partially integrated steel producer.
7. Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL)
Bharat Electronics Limited, founded in the year 1954 and headquartered in Bengaluru, is India’s premier defence electronics PSU and one of the most strategically important Navratna companies in the defence sector. The company designs, develops, and manufactures a wide range of advanced electronic systems including radars, communication equipment, electronic warfare systems, weapons control systems, smart ammunition, and drone components for India’s armed forces. BEL benefits directly from India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat defence indigenisation drive that is directing billions of defence procurement to domestic manufacturers.
BEL serves the Indian Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and paramilitary forces with indigenously designed and manufactured defence electronics systems, and is the anchor company in India’s defence electronics ecosystem, uniquely positioned to benefit from the government’s policy of reserving an increasing proportion of defence procurement for domestic manufacturers.
8. Engineers India Limited (EIL)
Engineers India Limited, established in the year 1965 and headquartered in New Delhi, is India’s premier public sector engineering and consultancy company specialising in hydrocarbon processing, petrochemicals, refineries, pipelines, and offshore platforms. The company provides project management consultancy, design, engineering, procurement, and construction services to India’s oil and gas companies as well as international clients. EIL has executed some of India’s most complex refinery expansion and pipeline projects and holds a commanding position in the domestic hydrocarbon engineering consultancy market.
Engineers India Limited serves oil and gas companies, petrochemical plants, and fertiliser manufacturers across India and internationally with engineering consultancy, project management, and detailed design services, and is the most technically credentialed and trusted engineering consultancy for India’s strategic hydrocarbon and energy infrastructure sector.
9. IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation)
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, incorporated in the year 1999 and headquartered in New Delhi, was elevated to Navratna status in early 2025 alongside IRFC following consistent financial growth and high performance ratings. IRCTC holds the exclusive mandate to provide catering services, online railway ticketing, and tourism packages for Indian Railways — giving it a quasi-monopolistic position with extraordinary revenue predictability. The company’s ticketing platform handles hundreds of millions of transactions annually and is one of the most-visited government websites in India.
IRCTC serves hundreds of millions of Indian railway passengers with online ticketing, catering services, and tourism packages, and its government-mandated monopoly in railway ticketing and catering makes it one of India’s most uniquely positioned public sector enterprises with a business model that generates cash with remarkable consistency.
10. NHPC Limited
NHPC Limited, established in the year 1975 and headquartered in Faridabad, is India’s largest hydroelectric power generating company and was elevated to Navratna status in late 2024 reflecting the government’s focus on infrastructure and renewable energy. The company operates over 7,000 MW of installed hydropower capacity and has an ambitious expansion pipeline of new hydropower projects in Himalayan river basins. NHPC’s clean hydropower generation is critical to India’s renewable energy capacity targets and its strategic positioning in the Himalayan states gives it access to some of the world’s best hydropower sites.
NHPC serves India’s electricity grid with reliable, clean hydropower generation and sells power to state electricity boards and the central grid, and its government backing, strategic asset base of Himalayan hydropower plants, and growing renewable energy expansion pipeline make it one of the most important clean energy companies in India’s transition to net-zero emissions.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: How many Navratna companies are there in India in 2026?
A: There are 26 Navratna companies in India in 2026. The most recent additions include IRCTC and IRFC which were elevated to Navratna status in early 2025, and RailTel, Solar Energy Corporation of India, NHPC, and SJVN which were elevated in late 2024 reflecting the government’s focus on infrastructure and renewable energy sectors.
Q: What is the difference between Maharatna, Navratna, and Miniratna?
A: Maharatna companies have the highest level of operational and financial autonomy and can make investment decisions up to Rs 5,000 crore. Navratna companies can invest up to Rs 1,000 crore without government approval. Miniratna companies have more limited autonomy with investment caps of Rs 500 crore for Category I and Rs 300 crore for Category II. The higher the ratna status, the more strategic and operational freedom the company’s management has.
Q: What are the criteria for a company to get Navratna status?
A: To qualify for Navratna status, a CPSE must first have Miniratna Category I status and must have obtained excellent or very good MoU ratings for three consecutive years. The company must also meet three of six financial criteria related to net profit, net worth, total manpower cost, total cost of production, cost of services, profit before depreciation, interest and taxes, and turnover in three years out of the last five.
Q: Can private sector companies get Navratna status?
A: No. Navratna status is exclusively granted to Central Public Sector Enterprises or CPSEs — companies where the Government of India holds a majority or significant stake. Private sector companies are not eligible for this designation. The status is a government recognition of exceptional performance by its owned enterprises and comes with specific financial and operational autonomy privileges.
Q: What benefits do Navratna companies get from the government?
A: Navratna companies enjoy significant operational autonomy including the ability to make equity investments up to Rs 1,000 crore in joint ventures and subsidiaries, enter into technology joint ventures or agreements, undertake mergers and acquisitions, and make overseas investments all without government approval. They can also raise funds from capital markets without case-by-case approval and have greater flexibility in human resources management including performance-linked rewards.
