PSU Full Form

The PSU full form is Public Sector Undertaking and it is a business enterprise (or a company) that the government either wholly or partially owns. These companies (PSUs) are also referred to as public sector enterprises. Since the government owns these undertakings, the governing body has full or significant minority ownership. The government-owned corporations are known as Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) in India. PSUs are created by the government to undertake various commercial projects under its own banner. These government-owned companies are less concerned about making profits and more focused towards the process of nation building and improving the economy of the country.

What is the PSU Full Form?

A PSU owned by the state government is called a state-owned enterprise (SOE), and those that the government controls are known as government-owned enterprises (GOEs). Although SOE and GOE might sound similar, some differences exist between them, such as operation, legal activities and commercial affairs.

The shares that the government owns in a PSU may vary from company to company depending upon their structure. In some PSUs, the government may own 55% shares, whereas, the percentage of ownership could increase up to 90% (or 100%) in others enterprises. For example in SBI, the government owns its 56.2% shares. Many other top listed PSUs operated by the government are listed in this article.

The PSU mainly stands for Public Sector Understanding but it has other full forms related to other fields too. Public Sector Understandings are government-owned sectors in India where most of the share or company i.e  51% of the work is handled and administered by the Central Government of India or the state government of India.

The main motive of Public Sector Understandings is to undertake commercial projects under its own banner. These government projects are more concerned about building the nation and improving the economy of the country and less concerned with making profits. The audits of all PSU’s are managed and controlled by the committee called Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

 A Brief History of PSU

Post-Independence India was dealing with serious socio- economic and financial issues due to presence of long time of slavery, income gap, imbalance of regional economic disparity and lot of prevailing unemployment. Also, insufficient industrial base, not enough investments and poor infrastructure facilities with untrained human resources available, technological struggle all together tried to cripple the basic framework of running a successful economy in India.

Therefore, its Public Sector in India was looked upon as the tool for making India self-reliant and contributing towards steady economic growth. Over the years, there have been a lot of changes and introduction of various policies, wherein PSU companies in India could contribute more towards economic welfare, growth and durability of the nation. Along with this, the young and dynamic engineering aspirants could also find a lucrative career in these public sector enterprises in India. Moreover, the companies provide better career opportunities when you get associated with India's categories of PSUs such as Maharatna, Navratna or Miniratna. Today, PSUs recruit a large number of candidates every year through the GATE Examination. More and more Public Sector Industries are joining this league to employ young and dynamic engineering candidates.

Various Classification of PSUs

The Public Sector Undertakings can be classified in the following group:

• Central public sector undertakings: Central public sector undertakings are known as CPSUs or CPSEs, these are owned by the central government wholly or partly. 
• State-level public sector undertakings: State-level public sector undertakings can also be abbreviated as SLPSUs and SLPSEs. These are the companies that the state government partly or wholly owns.

Position of Employee in PSU

PSU employees are the term that is collectively used for the employees working for Public Sector Undertakings. However, these employees cannot be completely termed as government employees. Sometimes, the PSU Employees are termed as government servants but they do not get that much benefit and perks as a government servant receives. However, the pay scale in the PSU sector is more than the government employees according to the capacity. The set of rules that is framed to govern an institution is also different in the Government sector and PSUs.

Types of Government PSU

Public Sector Understandings or PSU are government-owned sectors in India where most of the enterprise or company i.e  51% of the company holding is handled by the Central Government of India or the state government of India, respectively. The main purpose of Public Sector Understandings is to undertake commercial projects under its own administration. These government projects are more considerate about building the nation and improving the economy of the country and less focussed  on making profits. The audits of all PSU’s are managed and administered by the Government committee called Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). The government provides the status of Navratna, Miniratna and Maharatna to Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) based upon the profit made by these CPSEs.

When it comes to the categorization of PSUs , it is divided into 4-parts which is based on factors like global presence, annual revenue collection, registering in the Stock Exchange of India and Income Generation. Some of the popular companies under the different categories allocated by the government are listed below:

1. Maharatna
2. Navratna
3. Miniratna – Category I
4. Miniratna – Category II

PSUs Maharatna:

The following companies are coming under the Maharatna category:

PSUs Navratna

The following companies are coming under the PSUs Navratna category:

PSUs Miniratna – Category I

The below-mentioned companies are mentioned under the mini Ratna – Category I:

PSUs Miniratna – Category II

The following companies are the part of mini Ratna – Category II:

PSU Eligibility Criteria- for PSUs Exam and GATE:

Candidates, who are willing to appear for the PSUs exam and GATE, should meet some eligibility criteria of the exam. Also, the eligibility criteria can differ for every PSU based on their guidelines. The common eligibility criteria of all PSUs for PSU exam and GATE is listed below:

Educational Qualification:

• The applicant must have completed a B.Tech/ BE degree from any recognized university.
• The candidates appearing for the graduation final year are eligible to apply for this exam.
• The aspirants who are studying final year of graduation are also eligible to apply for the GATE exam and PSUs test.

Minimum Marks Required:

• Students should secure at least 60% of aggregate marks in their qualifying exam.
• The minimum marking criteria may vary for each PSU.

Subjects:

• Candidates must have studied Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics in their 12th as their basic subjects.

Entrance Exam:

• The student must have a qualified GATE Exam successively with a minimum percentile.
• However, some PSUs recruitment is done through PSU tests conducted by their own authority.

Age Limit:

• For General Category – The applying candidates must be between 21-27 years of age.
• For SC/ ST – The minimum age requirement is 21 years and the maximum age limit is 30 years.

The age limit can vary for different job positions in each PSU. General category with 55 years (for SAIL) can also apply for PSUs post according to the requirement.

PSU Recruitment 2024 through GATE

The recruitment of candidates in various PSUs is usually conducted on the basis of scores obtained in the GATE exam. There is a list of PSUs that accept admission through gate 2024. The candidates are required to have qualified GATE with the cutoff mentioned. However, the specific scores for the recruitment will be announced by each company differently as the eligibility criteria for each sector are different. For some GATE PSU recruitment, the companies accept only the present year score, while some PSU recruitment also accept previous year scores of the candidates. The candidate must check the recruitment pattern of every company to check the eligibility as per their GATE score.

Some companies use the GATE scores as a direct means of recruitment to the vacancies. However, the recruitment process in some companies passes through stages- the scores are considered for shortlisting after which an interview, test, or group discussions may be held to make the final recruitment decision. For example, the Haryana Power Utilities Recruitment does not conduct any interviews and group discussions, the recruitment is done solely based on the marks obtained in the GATE exam.

What is the importance of GATE in PSU?

Many PSUs accept gate scores of the candidates to apply for the various available positions. Some of the PSUs, where the GATE is mandatory to clear are – CEL, NPCC, MECL, Power Grid, HPCL, NTPC, Mazagon Dock Limited, GAIL, NLC and many others. The candidates must check the requirement in the official website of the company.