Indian Economy Mixed Practice — MCQs with Answers (Set 16)

The correct answer is 2 only. Statement 2 matches UPSC’s wording. The official key for Set A marks option (b). The key does not mark statement 1 as correct. NABARD’s FY2024 chart gives agricultural credit for all cooperative banks as Rs 2.3 lakh crore. It gives no DCCB figure. Commercial banks disbursed Rs 19.8 lakh crore. RRBs disbursed Rs 3.0 lakh crore.

The correct answer is Section 35(6) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. RBI says it delegated powers to NABARD under Section 35(6), as applicable to cooperative societies. NABARD uses them to inspect State and Central Cooperative Banks. NABARD’s Annual Report says it supervises RRBs under Section 35(6). Sections 22 and 23 of the Act are different. RBI uses them to regulate the banking functions of StCBs and DCCBs.

The correct answer is village or grassroots level. RBI says PACS sit at the village level in the three-tier system. NABARD calls PACS grassroots institutions in villages. Their member shareholders are individual farmers, artisans and other weaker sections. DCCBs sit at the district level. StCBs sit at the state level.

The correct answer is Primary Agricultural Credit Societies. RBI says PACS are outside the purview of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. So RBI does not regulate them. RBI regulates the banking functions of StCBs, DCCBs and UCBs under Sections 22 and 23 of the Act. PIB’s note of 27 June 2020 says the 2020 amendments do not apply to PACS.

The marked answer is the option that starts with providing funds to the PACS. UPSC’s 2020 paper says one of the most important functions of DCCBs is to provide funds to PACS. The official key marks that statement as correct.

The correct answer is State Cooperative Bank, then DCCB, then PACS. RBI says the short-term structure has three tiers. PACS sit at the village level. Central cooperative banks sit at the district level. StCBs sit at the state level. NABARD’s chart lists the StCB as Tier I, the DCCB as Tier II and the PACS as Tier III. NABARD is not one of the three tiers.

The correct answer is State Co-operative Banks and Regional Rural Banks. NABARD’s page says this refinance goes to StCBs and RRBs by sanction of credit limits. Each withdrawal is repayable within 12 months. NABARD’s refinance pages do not name PACS as borrowers. DCCBs can borrow directly from financial institutions that RBI regulates or approves. NABARD also developed the STMPCP to assist StCBs and DCCBs.

The answer is Shree Anna. The Budget speech of 1 February 2023 used this name for millets. The same speech said IIMR, Hyderabad would be supported as the Centre of Excellence.

The answer is Ragi – Finger millet. Jowar is sorghum. Bajra is pearl millet. APEDA lists the three crops with these names.

The answer is Rs 5,205 per quintal, up Rs 319. The Cabinet approved this MSP on 13 May 2026. The ragi MSP for 2025-26 was Rs 4,886. Rs 4,023 up Rs 324 is jowar hybrid. Rs 2,900 up Rs 125 is bajra.

The answer is Karnataka. The reply of 9 December 2025 gives Karnataka 24.01 lakh tonnes in 2024-25. Rajasthan made 55.51 and Maharashtra made 25.32. Uttar Pradesh was close behind at 23.55.

The answer is (a) 1 and 2 only. Statement 2 is right. The Nutri-Cereals list holds jowar, bajra, ragi and five small millets. Statement 3 is false. Budget 2023-24 used the name Shree Anna. Read statement 1 with care. INSIMP merged into NFSM from 2014-15, as NFSM-Coarse Cereals. The Sub-Mission on Nutri-Cereals itself began in 2018-19. The question’s key counts statement 1 as correct.

The answer is 2018 and 2023. PIB says the Government notified millets as nutri-cereals in April 2018. The UN General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/75/263 on 3 March 2021. It declared 2023 the International Year of Millets. PIB uses the word notified. Only one PIB explainer uses the word gazetting.

The answer is micro-irrigation equipment. The free kit held micro-nutrients, fungicides, bio-fertilizers, DAP, urea, potash and pesticides including weedicides. Kits were free for up to 2 hectares per farmer.

The answer is 2011-12, under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. The Government announced Rs 300 crore for 2011-12 under RKVY. INSIMP ran from Kharif 2011. It joined the National Food Security Mission only from 2014-15.

The answer is (c) 1 and 2 only. UPSC’s Series A key gives C for Q48. Statement 3 is false. The INSIMP guidelines list the free kit as micro-nutrients, fungicides, bio-fertilizers, DAP, urea, potash and pesticides including weedicides. Micro-irrigation equipment is not on that list.

The last tranche was 2023-24 Series IV, issued on 21 February 2024. RBI’s SGB page shows no newer notice, and no official notice gives a reason for the pause. Bonds already issued continue to maturity or to their premature redemption dates.

Capital gains on redemption are exempt for an individual who holds the bond from original issue till maturity. The Finance Act 2026 states this condition from 1 April 2026. The 2.5% yearly interest stays taxable.

The Short Term Bank Deposit ran for one to three years and is the bank’s own liability. The Medium and Long Term Government Deposits were the Government’s liability. They stopped taking new gold from 26 March 2025, so only the short-term deposit is left, at banks’ discretion.

A Sovereign Gold Bond has a tenor of 8 years. RBI allows premature redemption after the 5th year, on a date when interest is payable. The last notified scheme, SGB 2023-24, had these terms.

The correct answer is (B). RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan made this remark at a convocation in Pune on 10 April 2015. Jayant Sinha separately pushed for full rupee convertibility days later, in mid-April 2015.

The correct answer is (C). The second Tarapore Committee’s report was released on 1 September 2006, and it set a five-year, three-phase roadmap targeting fuller capital account convertibility by 2011. The 1999-2000 target belonged to the first Tarapore Committee’s 1997 roadmap, not this one.

The correct answer is (A). S.S. Tarapore chaired the 1997 committee. Its roadmap was shelved after the Asian Financial Crisis struck the same year.

The correct answer is (D). India accepted Article VIII obligations in August 1994, giving the rupee full current-account convertibility. March 1993 saw an earlier step, the unification of the exchange rate, but full current-account convertibility came only in 1994.

The correct answer is (B). Convertibility is the freedom to exchange a domestic currency for a foreign currency, or back again, without government restriction. It has nothing to do with printing currency, fixed pegs, or devaluation.