Every free question on Industry, MSME & Infrastructure (Indian Economy) from past WBCS Preliminary Examination and WBCS Main Examination papers, newest first, each with its answer and a short explanation. Free to read.
Answer: (D) All of the above
Indian textiles compete in world markets with China (the largest exporter) as well as South Korea and Japan in synthetic fibres and technical textiles. Since all three are competitors, picking only one is incomplete.
Also asked as Mains 2023 III
Answer: (B) Surat
Surat in Gujarat is the Diamond City because most of the world's rough diamonds are cut and polished there. Hyderabad is the 'City of Pearls', Jaisalmer the 'Golden City' and Dhanbad the 'Coal Capital of India'.
Answer: (A) to generate foreign exchange earnings.
India's IT and IT-enabled services industry is export-oriented and is one of the country's largest sources of foreign exchange earnings. It employs mainly skilled workers rather than the masses and is concentrated in a few cities, so it does not ensure regional balance.
Answer: (B) Consumer durable goods industries
Liberalisation of the 1980s and rising middle-class demand made consumer durables (vehicles, electronics, appliances) the fastest-growing segment of Indian industry. Capital, intermediate and non-durable goods grew more slowly.
Answer: (D) HCL Technologies
HCL Technologies is one of India's leading IT services and software companies. Larsen and Toubro is mainly an engineering and construction group, Mahindra and Mahindra an automobile maker and Hindustan Unilever a consumer-goods company.
Answer: (A) 1967
WBIDC was set up in 1967 as the State Government's nodal agency for promoting industrial investment, giving term loans and developing growth centres and industrial parks in West Bengal. Related State bodies and their years: West Bengal Financial Corporation (1954), West Bengal Small Industries Development Corporation (1961) and West Bengal Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (1974). The other years in the options are only distractors.
No option is correct as printed — this question is disputed. WBPSC awarded the mark to all candidates (final answer key, Notice No. 628-PSC/Con(Q), 30 Sept 2021): no option gives the MSME limit for a small enterprise, which at the time was annual turnover above Rs. 5 crore and up to Rs. 50 crore.
Answer as of 2021 — this may have changed since.
PSC cancelled this question in its final answer key, because no option states the limit correctly. Under the MSME classification in force from 1 July 2020, a small enterprise had investment up to Rs. 10 crore and annual turnover up to Rs. 50 crore (i.e., above the micro limit of Rs. 5 crore); micro was Rs. 1 crore / Rs. 5 crore and medium Rs. 50 crore / Rs. 250 crore. Option (A) gets the lower bound of Rs. 5 crore right but wrongly puts the upper limit at Rs. 75 crore. From 1 April 2025 the limits (investment / turnover) are: micro Rs. 2.5 crore / Rs. 10 crore, small Rs. 25 crore / Rs. 100 crore, medium Rs. 125 crore / Rs. 500 crore. CANCELLED BY PSC: the final answer key (Notice No. 628-PSC/Con(Q), 30 Sept 2021) shows '*' for this question (Set C Q66), as no option matches the MSME definition (small enterprise turnover: above Rs. 5 crore and up to Rs. 50 crore at the time).
Answer: (C) Both vertical and horizontal linkages
When industries concentrate geographically, they generate both types of linkages. Vertical linkages connect firms along the supply chain (input suppliers → manufacturer → distributors). Horizontal linkages connect firms at the same production stage through shared services, information networks, and coordinated marketing. Industrial clusters like the textile industry in Tiruppur exemplify both.
