Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is a managerial tool used for bringing in drastic performance improvements in organizations. Towards this advanced techniques like Business Process Management (BPM) and Knowledge Management are employed the world over. In India, many Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) were recently closed down and still more are on the verge of closure due to various reasons. Despite the utility of BPR in improving performance, Indian PSUs are yet to effectively use this tool. Data pertaining to 41 State PSUs (SPSUs) and two Central PSUs (CPSUs) in the State of Kerala were considered for the present study. The performance for the last 12 years and the factors responsible for poor performance were analyzed. The performance of most of the PSUs analyzed was found to be below satisfactory levels. This suggests the need for employing scientific tools like BPR to bring in drastic performance improvement. The study identified 12 factors that could contribute towards drastic performance improvement. An average improvement of 57.5 per cent was found to be possible in each of the 12 factors identified. The findings of the study have significant bearing on poorly performing PSUs in a developing country like India. The study also contributes substantially towards theory building, since it has identified certain additional factors of performance improvement.