IRCON International Ltd and RITES Ltd have been granted Navratna status by the Government of India. The officially announcement was made on 12 October. Both these enterprises fall under the Ministry of Railways and after getting the Navratna status, they can invest up to Rs. 1,000 crore without any government approval.

After them, the total number of Navratna companies has reached to 16. The other PSUs with Navratna status are Bharat Electronics, MTNL, NALCO, NBCC, NLC India, Oil India, PFC, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam and others. A company must consistently record a net profit exceeding Rs. 5,000 crore for three consecutive years to get the Navratna status.

Let it be noted that after the departure of Yogesh Kumar Mishra, IRCON is still lacking a leader. The process to shortlist candidates for CMD position has already been initiated. Whereas, Rahul Mithal is serving as CMD of RITES.