CONTEXT:

• ONGC, India’s top oil and gas producer, has toppled Indian Oil Corp (IOC) to regain crown of being the country’s most profitable public sector company.
• According to earnings statements of the listed companies, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) reported a 34 per cent jump in its 2018-19 fiscal net profit to 26,716 crore rupees.
• In comparison, IOC registered a net profit of 17,274 crore rupees for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019. ONGC, in the previous two financial years, had lost the most profitable PSU tag to IOC.
• With its refining margins under pressure due to falling oil prices, IOC had also lost the title of being India’s largest company by turnover tag to billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries in FY19.
• IOC had in the previous 2017-18 fiscal posted a record net profit of 21,346 crore rupees. That year ONGC had a net profit of 19,945 crore rupees.