NDA Indian economy previous year questions with solutions

Answer: (a) raises the price of its product or service as demand outstrips supply.

Method. definition of surge (dynamic) pricing

Surge pricing, as used by app-based cab and delivery services, is a price that rises automatically when demand outstrips the supply of the service (for example, at peak hours or in bad weather), and falls when the imbalance eases. Option (a) states exactly this. (b) describes fixed pricing, (c) a price floor, and (d) an average daily fare, none of which responds to demand at the moment. Source: standard microeconomics of demand and supply (dynamic pricing).

Answer: (d) China

Method. India's largest trading partner, 2015-16

In 2015-16 China was India's largest trading partner (total merchandise trade of about 70 billion US dollars), ahead of the United States and the UAE. The United States has been the largest partner in most years since then, so the answer is tied to the year named. Source: Ministry of Commerce, Direction of Trade, 2015-16.

Dated answer: true for 2015-16; the United States overtook China as the largest partner in most later years (as of 2023-24).

Answer: (b) NITI Aayog

Method. Atal Innovation Mission

The Atal Innovation Mission, launched in 2016, is the Government of India's flagship initiative to promote innovation and entrepreneurship (Atal Tinkering Labs, Atal Incubation Centres) and is set up within NITI Aayog. So (b). Source: NITI Aayog, AIM.

Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2

Method. founding resolution of the Planning Commission

The Government of India's resolution of 15 March 1950 setting up the Planning Commission gave as its object to promote a rapid rise in living standards by efficient exploitation of resources, increasing production and offering opportunities to all for employment in the service of the community (statement 1). Its first function was to make an assessment of the material, capital and human resources of the country (statement 2). Both are correct. Source: Planning Commission resolution, 1950.

Answer: (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Method. plans proposed before the First Five-Year Plan

Before the First Plan (April 1951): the Bombay Plan (1944, industrialists), the People's Plan (1945, M.N. Roy), the Gandhian Plan (1944, S.N. Agarwal) and the Sarvodaya Plan (January 1950, Jayaprakash Narayan). All four preceded the First Plan, so (d). Source: Planning Commission history; standard reference on planning in India.

Answer: (c) 4–⁠1–⁠2–⁠3

Method. chronology of planning bodies

National Planning Committee constituted by the Congress: 1938 (4). Planning Commission established: March 1950 (1). National Development Council formed: August 1952 (2). First Five-Year Plan approved by the NDC: December 1952 (3). Sequence 4-1-2-3, option (c). Source: Planning Commission history; NCERT Class 11 IED ch. 2.

Answer: (a) the Bombay Plan

Method. origin of the planning idea in independent India

The planning idea in India grew from the Bombay Plan of 1944 (a blueprint by leading industrialists proposing state-led planned development) along with the Congress's National Planning Committee of 1938. Of the options, only the Bombay Plan is a planning document. Peasants' and workers' demands were not planning proposals, and the Gandhian vision (the Gandhian Plan of 1944) favoured decentralised village industries rather than the centralised planning that was adopted. Source: NCERT Class 12 Political Science (Politics in India since Independence) on planned development; Planning Commission history.

Answer: (b) USSR

Method. first Five Year Plan

The world's first Five Year Plan was launched in the USSR in 1928 under Stalin; India's first came in 1951 and China's in 1953. Bhutan began planning in 1961. Source: standard reference, comparative planning (NCERT Class 11 IED ch. 2 on planning in India).

Answer: (b) Second Five Year Plan

Method. Mahalanobis Plan

The Second Five Year Plan (1956-61) is also called the Mahalanobis Plan after P.C. Mahalanobis, whose model it followed. The First Plan was Harrod-Domar based, and the Third and Sixth are not so named. Source: NCERT Class 11 IED ch. 2; Second Five Year Plan.

Answer: (c) Expansion of the consumer goods sector

Method. objectives of the Second Plan

The Second Plan (1956-61) aimed at: a 25 per cent rise in national income to raise living standards; rapid industrialisation with emphasis on basic and heavy industries; large expansion of employment; and reduction of inequalities. It deliberately gave priority to capital goods over consumer goods, leaving consumer goods mainly to small and cottage industries. So an 'expansion of the consumer goods sector' was not its objective: (c). Source: Second Five Year Plan; NCERT Class 11 IED ch. 2.

Answer: (b) Second Five Year Plan

Method. rapid industrialisation, Second Plan

The Second Five Year Plan (1956-61), based on the Mahalanobis model, put the stress on rapid industrialisation with priority to basic and heavy industries and the public sector. The First Plan was agriculture-led, the Fifth aimed at removal of poverty, and the Seventh at food, work and productivity. Source: NCERT Class 11 IED ch. 2; Second Five Year Plan.

Answer: (c) P.C. Mahalanobis

Method. architect of Indian planning

P.C. Mahalanobis, founder of the Indian Statistical Institute and member of the Planning Commission, framed the Second Plan model and is known as the architect of Indian planning. V.K.R.V. Rao is noted for national income estimation, Sukhamoy Chakravarty for the Seventh Plan era planning ideas, and John Mathai was a Finance Minister who resigned in 1950. Source: standard reference on planning in India (NCERT Class 11 IED ch. 2 for the Mahalanobis strategy).

No correct option. This question is defective as printed in UPSC's paper.

Method. identify the aims of the Nehru-Mahalanobis strategy from the plan documents

No answer is printed: the two statements paraphrase a Marxist political-economy account of the strategy (Byres, Patnaik), in which both are its components, and the setter evidently meant (c). By the plan documents and NCERT Class 11 IED ch. 2 the strategy's components were rapid industrialisation led by basic and heavy industry in the public sector, import substitution and self-reliance, which is statement 1 in other words; its agrarian programme was land reform and cooperative farming under a socialistic pattern, never a declared transition to capitalist farming, so on the planners' own words only statement 1 holds (option a). The answer depends on the source, so none is printed.

No answer is printed: the two statements paraphrase a Marxist political-economy account of the strategy (Byres, Patnaik), in which both are its components, and the setter evidently meant (c). By the plan documents and NCERT Class 11 IED ch. 2 the strategy's components were rapid industrialisation led by basic and heavy industry in the public sector, import substitution and self-reliance, which is statement 1 in other words; its agrarian programme was land reform and cooperative farming under a socialistic pattern, never a declared transition to capitalist farming, so on the planners' own words only statement 1 holds (option a). The answer depends on the source, so none is printed.

Answer: (b) Second Five-Year Plan

Method. Nehru-Mahalanobis strategy, Second Plan

The Nehru-Mahalanobis strategy of rapid industrialisation through the public sector, with priority to basic and capital goods industries, was first implemented in the Second Five-Year Plan (1956-61), built on Mahalanobis's two-sector (later four-sector) model. The First Plan was agriculture-led, and followed the Harrod-Domar approach. Source: NCERT Class 11 IED ch. 2; Second Five Year Plan.

Answer: (d) Eleventh Plan

Method. title of the Eleventh Plan approach document

'Towards Faster and More Inclusive Growth' was the title of the approach paper to the Eleventh Plan (2007-12). The Eighth Plan stressed human development, the Ninth growth with social justice and equality, and the Tenth the doubling of per capita income in ten years. The Twelfth's approach was 'Faster, more inclusive and sustainable growth'. So (d). Source: Planning Commission, Eleventh Five Year Plan approach.

The title belongs to the Approach to the Eleventh Plan; the Plan volume itself is titled 'Inclusive Growth'.

Answer: (a) I and II only

Method. statements on Five Year Plans

I: correct. The Second Plan, after the Avadi resolution of 1955, aimed at a socialistic pattern of society. II: correct. Annual Plans were formulated for 1966-67, 1967-68 and 1968-69. III: wrong. The Ninth Plan began on time, in April 1997, the fiftieth year of Independence (the Plan that failed to take off on time was the Eighth, delayed by Annual Plans in 1990-92). So I and II only, option (a). Source: Five Year Plan documents; NCERT Class 11 IED ch. 2.

Answer: (b) 1966-1969

Method. years of Annual Plans

After the Third Plan (ending 1966), three Annual Plans (1966-67, 1967-68, 1968-69) were run before the Fourth Plan. 1956-57 was the first year of the Second Plan, 1975-76 fell within the Fifth Plan, and 1992-93 was the first year of the Eighth Plan (Annual Plans were 1990-91 and 1991-92). So 1966-1969, option (b). Source: Five Year Plan documents; NCERT Class 11 IED ch. 2.

Answer: (b) 2 3 4 1

Method. matching plans with objectives

A. Fifth Plan: Garibi Hatao, removal of poverty (2). B. Seventh Plan: food, work and productivity (3). C. Ninth Plan: growth with social justice and equality (4). D. Eleventh Plan: towards faster and more inclusive growth (1). Code 2-3-4-1, option (b). Source: Five Year Plan documents; NCERT Class 11 IED ch. 2.

Answer: (b) 1 and 3

Method. features of individual Five Year Plans

1: correct. The First Plan gave priority to agriculture (with irrigation and power), and the Ninth Plan gave priority to agriculture and rural development. 2: wrong. The Harrod-Domar model was the basis of the First Plan; the Third Plan aimed at self-sustained growth with agriculture and industry both stressed. 3: correct. The Seventh Plan stressed food, work and productivity. 4: wrong. The Ninth Plan gave private and cooperative sectors a larger role. So 1 and 3 only, option (b). Source: Five Year Plan documents; NCERT Class 11 IED ch. 2.

Answer: (c) First Five-Year Plan

Method. share of agriculture and irrigation in plan outlay

Agriculture and irrigation (with community development) received the largest share of outlay in the First Plan, about 31 per cent, as the Plan was agriculture-led after Partition and the food crisis. In the Second Plan the share fell sharply with the shift to heavy industry, and it stayed lower in the Third and Seventh Plans. So (c). Source: Five Year Plan documents (plan outlay tables); NCERT Class 11 IED ch. 2.

Answer: (b) Fifth Five Year Plan

Method. Garibi Hatao in the Fifth Plan

'Garibi Hatao' was the slogan of the 1971 general election and became the central objective of the Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-79), together with self-reliance. The Fourth Plan (1969-74) had been framed before the slogan. Source: NCERT Class 11 IED ch. 2; Fifth Five Year Plan.

Answer: (b) 3 4 1 2

Method. matching plans with their major objectives

A. 'Faster and more inclusive growth' is the Eleventh Plan (3). B. 'Faster, more inclusive and sustainable growth' is the Twelfth Plan (4). C. Correction of the disequilibrium caused by the Second World War and Partition is the First Plan (1). D. Attaining self-reliance (with removal of poverty) is the Fifth Plan (2). Code A-B-C-D = 3-4-1-2, option (b). Source: Five Year Plan documents; NCERT Class 11 IED ch. 2.

Answer: (c) 9 percent

Method. growth target in the Approach Paper to the Twelfth Plan

The Approach Paper to the Twelfth Plan (2011) proposed average GDP growth of 9 per cent over 2012-17. After the slowdown, the National Development Council in December 2012 approved the final Plan at 8 per cent. The question asks for the Approach Paper's target, so 9 per cent, option (c). Source: Planning Commission, Approach to the Twelfth Five Year Plan (2011).

The final Plan document (NDC, 2012) fixed 8 per cent; the Approach Paper figure, which the question names, was 9 per cent.

Answer: (c) Delivery of Public Service

Method. Twelfth Plan, 'enhancing capabilities' theme: health, education, skills

The Twelfth Plan (2012-17), Vol. I, treats human capabilities as health (life and longevity), education and skill development. Options (a), (b) and (d) are these three strands. Delivery of public services belongs to the Plan's governance and implementation agenda, not to its list of human-capability components, so (c) is the one that does not figure. Source: Twelfth Five Year Plan, Vol. I (Planning Commission).

Wording of the capabilities strand is from the Plan's Vol. I introduction; answer rests on delivery of public services being a governance item, not a capability.

Answer: (b) Agriculture Growth Rate of 5 per cent

Method. Twelfth Plan targets

Twelfth Plan (2012-17) targets: real GDP growth 8 per cent a year; agriculture growth 4 per cent a year; manufacturing growth 10 per cent a year; and an increase in forest/⁠green cover by 1 million hectare a year. The agriculture target was 4 per cent, not 5, so (b) is not a target. Options (a), (c) and (d) are all stated targets. Source: Twelfth Five Year Plan, Vol. I (Planning Commission).

Answer: (d) Optimizing canal irrigation

Method. strategies of the Rainfed Area Development scheme

RAD, a component of the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture, takes an area-based, cluster approach to rainfed farming through integrated farming systems, diversified farming, soil health management and water conservation. Canal irrigation concerns irrigated areas, and is not a RAD strategy for rainfed land, so (d). Source: RAD (NMSA) guidelines.

Answer: (b) Coffee

Method. crops under NFSM-Commercial Crops

The National Food Security Mission-Commercial Crops component covers cotton, jute and sugarcane. Coffee is not covered; it is promoted through the Coffee Board's own schemes. So (b). Source: NFSM operational guidelines (commercial crops component).

Dated answer: the component list as in the NFSM guidelines of 2014 onward (as of 2024).

Answer: (b) Pig development in north-western region

Method. Sub-Missions of the National Livestock Mission

As launched in 2014-15 the National Livestock Mission had four Sub-Missions: Livestock development; Pig development in the North Eastern Region; Fodder and feed development; and Skill development, technology transfer and extension. The scheme named the north-east, not the north-west, so (b) is the one that is not a Sub-Mission. Source: NLM operational guidelines, 2014-15.

Dated answer: the 2014-15 list. The Mission was restructured in 2021-22 with new components.

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

Method. PMKSY: launch year, aim and objectives

PMKSY was launched in 2015-16 (approved July 2015, with the motto 'Har Khet Ko Pani'). Its aim is to enhance physical access of water on the farm, expand cultivable area under assured irrigation and improve water-use efficiency. One of its main objectives is to achieve convergence of investments in irrigation at the field level. All three statements are correct. Source: PMKSY operational guidelines.