Q50. Which industrial product grouping showed especially high growth beginning in the 1980s?
[WBCS Mains (Polity & Economy) 2023]
(A) Capital goods
(B) Consumer durables
(C) Intermediate goods
(D) Consumer non-durables
Answer: (B) Consumer durables
Explanation: Consumer durables expanded rapidly as household purchasing power, access to credit and manufacturing capacity increased. Market reforms subsequently reinforced competition and variety. Unlike basic commodities, durable goods include items purchased for use over several years.
Q49. Arrange in correct chronology:
1 Planning Commission;
2 National Development Council;
3 NDC approval of First Plan;
4 National Planning Committee.
[UPSC NDA-II General Ability Test 2022]
(A) 1–2–3–4
(B) 2–1–3–4
(C) 4–1–2–3
(D) 1–4–2–3
Answer: (C) 4–1–2–3
Explanation: The National Planning Committee was formed in 1938, followed by the Planning Commission in 1950 and the National Development Council in 1952. The NDC’s subsequent consideration of the First Plan therefore comes last in the sequence.
Q48. Which description correctly identifies a mixed economy?
[RRB NTPC CBT-II Level 5 2022]
(A) Public and private sectors operate together
(B) Only public industries may operate
(C) Public and private sectors cannot coexist
(D) Only private industry is permitted
Answer: (A) Public and private sectors operate together
Explanation: Mixed economic systems combine markets and private property with public enterprises, regulation and government services. India’s development strategy long relied on both sectors, especially state-led core industries alongside private agriculture, commerce and manufacturing.
Q47. What were the starting and ending years of India’s Twelfth Five-Year Plan?
[RRB Group D 2022]
(A) 2013–18
(B) 2012–17
(C) 2010–15
(D) 2011–16
Answer: (B) 2012–17
Explanation: The Twelfth Plan covered 2012–17 and carried the theme faster, sustainable and more inclusive growth. It was India’s last regular Five-Year Plan before development-policy coordination moved to the NITI Aayog framework.
Q46. Which economy lets private businesses independently decide production and selling prices through markets, with no economic role for the state in the definition?
[RRB NTPC CBT-I 2021]
(A) Capitalist economy
(B) World economy
(C) Mixed economy
(D) State economy
Answer: (A) Capitalist economy
Explanation: In the pure capitalist model tested, firms and consumers coordinate activity through prices and voluntary exchange. Actual capitalist economies may still regulate markets, so the question describes a theoretical extreme rather than every real-world example.
Q45. After the 1991 reforms, which observations about rural India were correct:
(1) rural productivity declined;
(2) rural workforce share steadily rose;
(3) non-farm activity expanded;
(4) rural employment growth slowed?
[UPSC CSE Prelims 2020]
(A) 1 and 2 only
(B) 3 and 4 only
(C) 3 only
(D) 1, 2 and 4 only
Answer: (B) 3 and 4 only
Explanation: Rural worker productivity did not uniformly fall, and the rural share of the workforce did not keep rising. Rural non-agricultural activity gained importance, while employment growth slowed during the period assessed in the original question.
Q44. Regarding Indian planning, consider:
(1) Second Plan prioritised basic capital-goods industry;
(2) Fourth Plan addressed wealth concentration;
(3) Fifth Plan first integrated the financial sector.
Which are correct?
[UPSC CSE Prelims 2019]
(A) 1 and 2 only
(B) 2 only
(C) 3 only
(D) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (A) 1 and 2 only
Explanation: The Second Plan emphasised capital and basic industries. The Fourth Plan addressed concentration of wealth and regional imbalances. The claim concerning first inclusion of the financial sector in the Fifth Plan is not correct.
Q43. What was the 2019–20 Union Budget target for receipts from disinvestment of public enterprises including Air India?
[CGPSC Civil Service Prelims 2019]
(A) ₹90,000 crore
(B) ₹1,05,000 crore
(C) ₹1,50,000 crore
(D) ₹1,95,000 crore
Answer: (B) ₹1,05,000 crore
Explanation: The Union Budget set a ₹1.05 lakh crore disinvestment target for the financial year 2019–20. Disinvestment generates government receipts by selling equity in public enterprises, and should not be confused with ordinary tax revenue.
Q42. Which were functions of the former National Development Council:
mobilising state efforts for planning;
framing broad development policies; and
encouraging balanced regional development?
[CGPSC Civil Service Prelims 2019]
(A) First only
(B) Second only
(C) Third only
(D) All three
Answer: (D) All three
Explanation: The National Development Council helped integrate central and state views on development plans. Its responsibilities included encouraging cooperative implementation and balanced growth across regions, complementing the technical planning role of the Planning Commission.
Q41. In which year did the process of major economic reforms begin in India?
[RPSC Grade II Social Science 2018]
(A) 1995
(B) 1991
(C) 1982
(D) 2001
Answer: (B) 1991
Explanation: In 1991 a severe external-payments crisis accelerated reforms in industrial policy, trade, investment and finance. The new framework reduced licensing restrictions and opened additional opportunities for private enterprises and foreign capital under government supervision.
