UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — FinMin panel clears Budget proposal of ₹1.25 lakh cr. for ISM 2.0

Q1. The Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) under the Department of Expenditure — the body that recently cleared the ISM 2.0 proposal — appraises central sector scheme and project proposals whose financial outlay is at or above which one of the following thresholds?

  • A. ₹100 crore
  • B. ₹500 crore
  • C. ₹1,000 crore
  • D. ₹2,000 crore

Q2. The multi-year outlay for ISM 2.0 cleared by the Expenditure Finance Committee is approximately how many times the total outlay approved for ISM 1.0 (the Semicon India Programme)?

  • A. About 1.6 times
  • B. About 2.5 times
  • C. About 4 times
  • D. About 6 times

Q3. Which one of the following functions as the nodal implementing agency of the India Semiconductor Mission?

  • A. The India Semiconductor Mission, set up as an independent business division within the Digital India Corporation (DIC) under MeitY
  • B. The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC)
  • C. Software Technology Parks of India (STPI)
  • D. Semiconductor Complex Limited (SCL), Mohali

Q4. Taiwan is estimated to produce nearly what share of the world's most advanced semiconductor chips — a concentration risk that India's semiconductor mission seeks to reduce?

  • A. About 50%
  • B. About 70%
  • C. About 80%
  • D. About 90%

Q5. In the context of semiconductor supply-chain strategy, the term 'friend-shoring' most precisely refers to:

  • A. Routing or relocating supply chains to politically allied and trusted partner countries to reduce dependence on a single source
  • B. Bringing manufacturing entirely back to the home country from overseas
  • C. Outsourcing production to the lowest-cost country regardless of political alignment
  • D. Nationalising foreign-owned chip plants operating within a country

Q6. Within MeitY's semiconductor framework, the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme is best described as:

  • A. A scheme providing reimbursement of up to 50% of eligible design expenditure plus a deployment-linked incentive to nurture domestic semiconductor chip-design firms
  • B. A scheme offering up to 50% capital subsidy for setting up silicon wafer fabrication plants
  • C. A scheme reimbursing consumers for purchasing Indian-made electronic products
  • D. A production-linked incentive limited to mobile-phone assembly