5 Top Public Sector Companies in India

India’s biggest state-owned companies ranked by net sales

Reviewed by Robert C. Kelly

India is a quickly developing country that has adopted a mixed economic system post-independence, with the government remaining involved in several key industries. In fact, seven Indian companies made it to the latest 2019 Global Fortune 500 list and four of them are in the public sector. Here we take a look at the five largest state-owned publicly traded companies in India. The companies ranked here are majority-owned by the state and called Public Sector Undertakings (PSU).

1. IndianOil Corporation Ltd. (BSE: 530965, NSE: IOC)

According to the latest figures, for 2023, Indian Oil’s revenues were $94.87 billion dollars, which dropped by 6.51% over the past year. The previous year saw 41.72% growth in revenue.

India is the world’s third-largest energy consumer, and the state-owned IndianOil is the country’s flagship energy major with 44.6% market share. Founded in 1959, its core business is refining, transporting, and marketing petroleum products. The company has a workforce of over 31,095, with a 0.9% attrition rate. In the 2022-2023 fiscal year, its refinery throughput increased to 72.41 from 67.6 MMT the previous year and it saw its net profit decrease 70.66% from the previous year to 8,242 Crore.

2. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BSE: 500547, NSE: BPCL)

According to the latest figures, for 2023, Bharat Petroleum’s revenues were $53.59 billion dollars, which dropped by 6.65% over the past year. The previous year saw 33.78% growth in revenue.

BPCL was established in 1952 and taken over by the Indian government in 1976. It operates crude oil refineries at Mumbai, Bina, and Kochi and sells petroleum products. The company logo is a familiar sight of Indian roads thanks to its network of over 18,600 fuel stations. In the 2022-2023 fiscal year, its refinery crude throughput slightly decreased to 38.53 MMT from 35.89 MMT the previous year and its net profit was 2,131.05 Crore.

3. State Bank of India (BSE: 500112, NSE: SBIN)

The State Bank of India had revenues of $37.61 billion in 2023, ranking as the 202nd biggest company in the world by market cap.

Headquartered in India’s financial capital, Mumbai, India’s largest commercial bank was originally the Imperial Bank of India established in 1921. In 1955, India’s central bank took a controlling interest in itand in 2007 transferred its 59.7% stake to the central government.

SBI has deposits of over 44 trillion rupees, has about 270 million debit cards users and has a network of 65,627 ATMs all over the country. It reported a net gain of 1.45 billion rupees in the 2023 fiscal year.

4. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BSE: 500104, NSE: HINDPETRO)

Hindustan Petroleum, which engages in the refining of crude oil and marketing of petroleum products, was formed in 1974 when the government took over two refining companies belonging to the private sector. In the 2023 fiscal year it recorded refining throughput of 19.09 MMT and saw a net loss of 8.97 billion rupees.

5. Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (BSE: 500312, NSE: ONGC)

Oil & Natural Gas Corporation had $77.52 billion in revenue in 2023, a small decrease from the previous year with $9.18 million in profits.

Founded in 1956 by the government, ONGC is India’s leading upstream petroleum company and is among the most profitable PSUs in the country. It produces 1.2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day and is responsible for discovering 83% of established reserves in the country. In the 2023 fiscal year, it reported net profit of 388.29 billion rupees and produced 21.49 MMT of crude oil, not including its share in joint ventures.

Stocks of all the companies mentioned above except for SBI are included in the holdings of the WisdomTree India Earnings Fund (EPI). Other exchange-traded funds that offer exposure to some of these stocks are Invesco India ETF (PIN) and Franklin FTSE India ETF (FLIN).

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