Q110. During the Seventh Five-Year Plan, which category of industries received emphasis for employment generation?
[SSC Selection Post, 31 Jul 2025]
(A) Heavy steel only
(B) Foreign-owned oil firms only
(C) Small-scale and cottage industries
(D) Only large automobile factories
Answer: (C) Small-scale and cottage industries
Explanation: Small-scale and cottage industries were promoted for their employment potential and ability to spread industrial activity across regions. They can use local skills and resources, complement large industries and support livelihoods beyond major metropolitan centres.
Q109. Which sectors are included within the petrochemical industry?
[SSC Selection Post, 26 Jul 2025]
(A) Polymers only
(B) Synthetic fibres only
(C) Elastomers only
(D) Polymers, synthetic fibres, elastomers and surfactant intermediates
Answer: (D) Polymers, synthetic fibres, elastomers and surfactant intermediates
Explanation: Petrochemicals use hydrocarbons from petroleum and natural gas to manufacture a broad range of intermediates and materials. Polymers, synthetic fibres, synthetic rubber and detergent-related chemicals connect refining complexes to many downstream consumer and industrial products.
Q108. Why is the Chhota Nagpur Plateau region a major centre of iron and steel production?
[SSC Selection Post, 31 Jul 2025]
(A) Because it lacks mineral resources
(B) Because of nearby minerals, water and labour
(C) Because it produces most of India’s cotton
(D) Because it is an island economy
Answer: (B) Because of nearby minerals, water and labour
Explanation: The Chhota Nagpur industrial belt combines iron ore and coal deposits with water, labour and transport. These location advantages lowered the costs of transporting bulky raw materials and supported a cluster of steelworks and heavy engineering plants.
Q107. Which industrial policy removed licensing requirements for most industries?
[SSC Selection Post, 30 Jul 2025]
(A) Industrial Policy 1948
(B) Industrial Policy 1956
(C) New Industrial Policy 1991
(D) National Manufacturing Policy 2011
Answer: (C) New Industrial Policy 1991
Explanation: The New Industrial Policy announced in 1991 removed licensing in most sectors to make industrial investment more flexible. It was part of broader liberalisation reforms involving reduced restrictions, increased competition and greater opportunities for private enterprises.
Q106. Which of the following is not, in itself, a measure of industrial liberalisation?
[SSC Selection Post, 28 Jul 2025]
(A) Delicensing
(B) Privatising public-sector undertakings
(C) Relaxation of investment controls
(D) Removal of restrictions on capacity expansion
Answer: (B) Privatising public-sector undertakings
Explanation: Liberalisation refers primarily to removing regulatory restrictions, whereas privatisation involves changing ownership from the public sector to private hands. Both featured in India’s broad economic reform agenda, but they are conceptually distinct policy processes.
Q105. Which industries were reserved for the public sector under the Industrial Policy Resolution of 1956?
[MP Police Constable, 28 Nov 2025]
(A) Cotton and jute textiles
(B) Sugar and leather
(C) Pottery and handicrafts
(D) Railways and atomic energy
Answer: (D) Railways and atomic energy
Explanation: The 1956 resolution gave the state exclusive responsibility for specified strategic industries in Schedule A, including atomic energy and railway transport. It also organised other industries into categories with differing roles for public and private investment.
Q104. During which Five-Year Plan were District Industries Centres established?
[SSC Selection Post, 28 Jul 2025]
(A) Fifth Five-Year Plan
(B) First Five-Year Plan
(C) Second Five-Year Plan
(D) Tenth Five-Year Plan
Answer: (A) Fifth Five-Year Plan
Explanation: District Industries Centres were introduced in 1978, during the period associated with the Fifth Plan’s end and subsequent planning transition. They were designed to bring support services for small and rural enterprises together at district level.
Q103. Which industry was among the principal manufacturing industries in India before British rule?
[RPF Constable, 7 Mar 2025]
(A) Cotton textiles
(B) Aerospace
(C) Petrochemicals
(D) Electronics
Answer: (A) Cotton textiles
Explanation: India possessed a well-developed handloom cotton textile tradition before colonial industrialisation. Cotton fabrics were traded widely within and beyond South Asia. Later mechanised milling and changing trade relations transformed the organisation and regional geography of textile production.
Q102. Which region is especially suited to India’s traditional jute textile industry?
[RPF Constable, 2025]
(A) Thar Desert
(B) Hooghly River belt
(C) Ladakh Plateau
(D) Kachchh salt desert
Answer: (B) Hooghly River belt
Explanation: The Hooghly belt combines humid conditions, river water, transport, labour and proximity to raw jute-producing areas. Kolkata’s port helped export jute manufactures, contributing to the concentration of mills along the river in West Bengal.
Q101. Which movement gave an impetus to the growth of indigenous industries in India?
[SSC CGL, 26 Sep 2024]
(A) Swadeshi Movement
(B) Khilafat Movement
(C) Non-Cooperation only
(D) Home Rule Movement only
Answer: (A) Swadeshi Movement
Explanation: The Swadeshi Movement encouraged the consumption of Indian-made goods and a boycott of imported merchandise. It also inspired investment in indigenous enterprises, helping promote national economic self-reliance during the struggle against colonial rule.
