PurposeMemorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been conceived as an instrument to quantify/assess social and commercial obligations/performance of central public sector enterprises (PSEs) in India. The purpose of this paper is to measure the financial performance of the MoU PSEs and to compare their performance with PSEs which have not opted for MoU (referred to as non‐MoU PSEs) over a period of 13 years.Design/methodology/approachFinancial ratio is a well accepted technique to assess financial performance. Accordingly, the financial performance of CPSEs has been assessed on the basis of 15 ratios pertaining to the profitability, efficiency, liquidity and solvency.FindingsThe findings suggest that MoU seems to have yielded decisive improvement in the performance of PSEs which have signed MoUs during the period of the study under reference. At the same time, the performance of non‐MoU PSEs is unsatisfactory. In sum, MoU have enhanced not only commercial profitability but also have enhanced operational efficiency of the PSEs.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper focuses only on financial aspects; the significant non‐financial aspects such as social responsibilities, environments etc. are not reckoned in the study to judge the total performance.Originality/valueThe study is the first of the type to cover a long time‐span of 13 years to assess virtually all non‐financial CPSEs operating in India.