Maharatna Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), established on June 23, 1993 is the largest crude oil and natural gas Company in India, contributing around 63% to Indian domestic production. Crude oil is the raw material used by downstream companies like IOC, BPCL, and HPCL (subsidiary of ONGC) to produce petroleum products like Petrol, Diesel, Kerosene, Naphtha, and Cooking Gas-LPG. The Government of India (GoI) held 58.89% stake in ONGC as on 31 March, 2025. The Company is engaged in exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and value added products.
This largest natural gas company ranks 11th among global energy majors (Platts). It is the only public sector Indian company to feature in Fortune's Most Admired Energy Companies' list. ONGC ranks 18th in Oil and Gas operations' and 220 overall in Forbes Global 2000.
ONGC's wholly owned subsidiary and overseas arm ONGC Videsh is India's largest international oil and gas E&P Company with 39 projects in 18 countries including Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Mozambique, Myanmar, Russia, South Sudan, Sudan, Venezuela, Vietnam, New Zealand and Namibia. ONGC Videsh is currently producing about 285,000 barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas per day and has total oil and gas reserves (2P) of about 704 mmtoe as on 1 April 2017.
ONGC was set up under the visionary leadership of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru. Pandit Nehru reposed faith in Shri Keshav Dev Malviya who laid the foundation of ONGC in the form of Oil and Gas division, under Geological Survey of India, in 1955. A few months later, it was converted into an Oil and Natural Gas Directorate. The Directorate was converted into Commission and christened Oil & Natural Gas Commission on 14 August 1956. In 1994, Oil and Natural Gas Commission was converted in to a Corporation, and in 1997 it was recognized as one of the Navratnas by the Government of India. Subsequently, it was conferred with Maharatna status in the y