The Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday that there were 256 Central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) operating in the country at the end of FY20, according to information available with the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE). The CPSEs had total annual turnover of Rs 24,61,712 crore, informed Union Minister of State for Finance Dr Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. 

The minister added that out of the 256 CPSEs, 171 were making profit and had generated profit of Rs 1,38,112 crore during FY20. 

Based on the information provided by the Navaratna CPSEs for FY21, Mr Karad stated that the performance in terms of Profit After Tax (PAT) had shown improvement compared to the PAT of the previous year with respect to most of the Navaratna CPSEs. 

On reining in expenditure, the minister said that according to information furnished by the Navaratna CPSEs, a number of them were relying on the use of virtual mode, IT tools and services for reducing cost in the recruitment process. 

“There is no reported reduction of workforce as cost-cutting measures,” the minister added. 

Earlier, in a written reply to a question asked in the Lok Sabha, Mr Karad had said that according to the latest available information on the number of profit-making CPSEs, at present there were 10 Maharatna, 14 Navaratna and 73 Miniratna CPSEs. 

Mr Karad added that in Budget 2021-22, the Centre had envisaged the completion of strategic disinvestment of one Maharatna CPSE, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, two Navaratna CPSEs – Shipping Corporation of India and Container Corporation of India – and two Miniratna CPSEs – BEML and Pawan Hans.