Statutory corporations are public enterprises brought into existence by a Special Act of the Parliament. The Act defines its powers and functions, rules and regulations governing its employees and its relationship with government departments. Eg. LIC, IFCI, RBI, SBI, ONGC, UTI, Air India etc.

Features: 

1. Statutory corporations are set up under an Act of Parliament and are governed by the provisions of the Act. 

2. It is wholly owned by the state. 

3. It has a separate legal entity, i.e it can sue and be sued, enter into contract and acquire property in its own name. 

4. It is usually independently financed. 

5. It is not subject to budget, accounting, and audit laws. 

6. The employees of these enterprises are not government or civil servants.

Merits:

1. They enjoy independence in their functioning and a high degree of operational flexibility 

2. It enjoys administrative and financial autonomy 

3. Since they are autonomous organizations, they can frame their own policies and procedures 

4. A statutory corporation is a valuable instrument for economic development.

Limitations: 

1. A statutory corporation does not enjoy as much operational flexibility 

2. Government and political interference has always been there in major decisions 

3. Where there is dealing with public, rampant corruption exists 

4. Commercial principles are ignored in the operation of public corporations which leads to inefficiency.