OREANDA-NEWS. Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd, a subsidiary of ONGC and a Mini Ratna category 1 PSU has been upgraded from Schedule B to A with effect from 04.07.2013 by the Department of Public Enterprises.

Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) categorises Central PSUS into four schedules namely 'A', 'B', 'C' and 'D', based on laid down norms and criteria including quantitative factors like investment, capital employed, net sales, profit, number of employees, number of units, etc,. and qualitative factors like national importance, complexity of problems, level of technology, prospects for expansion and diversification of activities, competition from other sectors, etc. In addition, other factors like image of the CPSE (in terms of its share price, MOU ratings, classification as Navratna/Miniratna, ISO 9000/IS 14000 certification), productivity of the CPSE (in terms of capacity utilization), value added per employee and strategic importance of the CPSE are also taken into account.

As on 31st March 2012, there were 61 Schedule A PSUs across all sectors. MRPL will join this august list now. In the Oil & Gas sector MRPL would be the 8th company to be in this category. Having entered the 'A' list, MRPL will now be entitled to more benefits and can now aspire for Navaratna status.