UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — U.S. tariffs are not what is holding back Indian research
Q1. Government of India data comparing R&D intensity across the developing BRICS economies for 2017-18, when India's gross expenditure on R&D (GERD) stood at about 0.7% of GDP, record the following country-wise GERD-to-GDP ratios. Consider the following:
1. Brazil — 1.3%
2. China — 2.1%
3. Russian Federation — 0.8%
4. South Africa — 1.1%
Which of the above is/are NOT correctly matched?
- Brazil — 1.3%
- China — 2.1%
- Russian Federation — 0.8%
- South Africa — 1.1%
- A. 1 and 2
- B. 2 and 3
- C. 3 and 4
- D. 1, 3 and 4
Q2. With reference to India's gross expenditure on research and development (GERD) expressed as a proportion of GDP, consider the following statements:
1. It declined from 0.66% in 2019-20 to 0.64% in 2020-21.
2. It has been officially reported at 0.84% of GDP for the financial year 2023-24.
3. It has at no point in the past decade fallen below the global average ratio for R&D spending.
4. It exceeds that of every other BRICS economy except China.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- It declined from 0.66% in 2019-20 to 0.64% in 2020-21.
- It has been officially reported at 0.84% of GDP for the financial year 2023-24.
- It has at no point in the past decade fallen below the global average ratio for R&D spending.
- It exceeds that of every other BRICS economy except China.
- A. 1 and 3
- B. 2 and 4
- C. 1, 3 and 4
- D. 1 and 2
Q3. Official Indian estimates of researcher density, such as the figure of researchers per million population used in international comparisons, are compiled and published by which one of the following?
- A. The National Statistical Office under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
- B. The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India
- C. The National Science and Technology Management Information System under the Department of Science and Technology
- D. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research under the Ministry of Science and Technology
Q4. As per Government of India data, the number of researchers per million population in India in 2017 was closest to which one of the following?
Q5. With reference to the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) established under the Act of 2023, consider the following statements:
1. The Prime Minister is the ex-officio President of its Governing Board.
2. Its Executive Council is chaired by the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.
3. The entire estimated cost of Rs 50,000 crore for the period 2023-28 is to be met from the Central Government budget.
4. Its funding is confined exclusively to Institutions of National Importance and Central universities, State universities being outside its ambit.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- The Prime Minister is the ex-officio President of its Governing Board.
- Its Executive Council is chaired by the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.
- The entire estimated cost of Rs 50,000 crore for the period 2023-28 is to be met from the Central Government budget.
- Its funding is confined exclusively to Institutions of National Importance and Central universities, State universities being outside its ambit.
- A. 1 and 4
- B. 2 and 3
- C. 1 and 2
- D. 1, 2 and 4
Q6. The Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) replaced an earlier statutory research-funding body. In this context, consider the following statements:
1. The Act of 2023 that created ANRF repealed the law under which the Science and Engineering Research Board had been set up in 2008 and subsumed that Board into ANRF.
2. Compared with its predecessor, ANRF carries an expanded mandate that reaches beyond the natural sciences, engineering, health and agriculture to interfaces with the humanities and social sciences.
3. The Central Government's budgetary provision for ANRF is Rs 36,000 crore, the balance of Rs 14,000 crore being expected from industry and philanthropy.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The Act of 2023 that created ANRF repealed the law under which the Science and Engineering Research Board had been set up in 2008 and subsumed that Board into ANRF.
- Compared with its predecessor, ANRF carries an expanded mandate that reaches beyond the natural sciences, engineering, health and agriculture to interfaces with the humanities and social sciences.
- The Central Government's budgetary provision for ANRF is Rs 36,000 crore, the balance of Rs 14,000 crore being expected from industry and philanthropy.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q7. In the reporting of national research statistics, the aggregate against which the government share and the industry share are computed is defined as which one of the following?
- A. Spending on research by government departments, public sector enterprises and publicly funded laboratories in a year, privately financed research being separately reported
- B. Spending on research by enterprises headquartered in the country in a year, including the research they perform in their overseas laboratories
- C. Spending on research within the national territory in a year, net of payments made abroad for imported technology, royalties and technical know-how
- D. Spending on research performed within the national territory in a year by all performers together — government, higher education, industry and non-profit bodies
Q8. India's research funding structure recorded a first in 2023-24. Which one of the following correctly describes it?
- A. State Governments together displaced the Central Government as the largest public funder of research, their combined share rising past a quarter of the total
- B. Private sector industry displaced the Government as the largest source of research funding, its share rising to about 51.8% of the total
- C. Public sector industry displaced private industry as the larger of the two industrial contributors to research, its share rising past 40% of the total
- D. Higher education institutions displaced public sector industry as the second largest performer of research, their share rising past 20% of the total
Q9. With reference to the rupee value of India's gross expenditure on research and development, consider the following statements:
1. It rose from about Rs 60,196 crore in 2010-11 to about Rs 1,27,380 crore in 2020-21.
2. It stood at about Rs 2.45 lakh crore in 2023-24.
3. It has risen in every single year since 2010-11 without exception and has never been surpassed in absolute terms by any other emerging economy.
4. Private sector industry's research spending within it rose from about Rs 44,754 crore in 2019-20 to about Rs 1.18 lakh crore in 2023-24.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- It rose from about Rs 60,196 crore in 2010-11 to about Rs 1,27,380 crore in 2020-21.
- It stood at about Rs 2.45 lakh crore in 2023-24.
- It has risen in every single year since 2010-11 without exception and has never been surpassed in absolute terms by any other emerging economy.
- Private sector industry's research spending within it rose from about Rs 44,754 crore in 2019-20 to about Rs 1.18 lakh crore in 2023-24.
- A. 1 and 2
- B. 2, 3 and 4
- C. 1, 2 and 4
- D. 1, 3 and 4
Q10. The Research, Development and Innovation Scheme, through which the Union Government seeks to shift the composition of national research funding further towards private industry, is administered by which one of the following?
- A. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry
- B. The Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology
- C. The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Ministry of Science and Technology
- D. The Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education
Q11. In August 2025 the total United States duty on a large part of India's merchandise exports reached 50% after a further 25% levy was added to the 25% already in force. This additional 25% levy is best described as which one of the following?
- A. A duty applied to all consignments entering the United States after trans-shipment through a third country, irrespective of where they originated
- B. A duty levied on every trading partner that runs a merchandise trade surplus with the United States, calibrated automatically to the size of that surplus
- C. A duty levied exclusively on those goods that have received any form of export subsidy or incentive from the exporting country's government
- D. A penal duty levied over and above the existing tariff on account of the exporting country's continued purchases of Russian crude oil