UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Panel for private hospital FDI relook as it warns of rising healthcare costs
Q1. Under India's extant Foreign Direct Investment policy, foreign investment up to 100 per cent is permitted under the automatic route in which of the following activities?
1. Operation of hospitals
2. Manufacture of medical devices
3. Brownfield pharmaceutical projects
4. Manufacture of defence items by companies seeking new industrial licences
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- Operation of hospitals
- Manufacture of medical devices
- Brownfield pharmaceutical projects
- Manufacture of defence items by companies seeking new industrial licences
- A. 1 and 2
- B. 2 and 3
- C. 1, 3 and 4
- D. 2 and 4
Q2. Consider the following statements comparing the treatment of foreign direct investment in the hospital sector with that in other sectors in India:
1. While hospitals attract 100 per cent FDI under the automatic route, greenfield pharmaceutical projects are restricted to 74 per cent under the automatic route.
2. The sectoral cap for insurance has been raised from 74 per cent to 100 per cent, with the enhanced limit available to companies that invest the entire premium within India.
3. In brownfield pharmaceutical projects, foreign investment beyond a threshold requires prior government approval, whereas the hospital sector carries no such approval threshold.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- While hospitals attract 100 per cent FDI under the automatic route, greenfield pharmaceutical projects are restricted to 74 per cent under the automatic route.
- The sectoral cap for insurance has been raised from 74 per cent to 100 per cent, with the enhanced limit available to companies that invest the entire premium within India.
- In brownfield pharmaceutical projects, foreign investment beyond a threshold requires prior government approval, whereas the hospital sector carries no such approval threshold.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 1 and 3 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q3. The members drawn from the Lok Sabha to the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare are nominated by which one of the following authorities?
- A. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha, from among the members of that House
- B. The Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, from among the members of that House
- C. The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, in consultation with party whips
- D. The Leader of the House in the Lok Sabha, on the advice of the Business Advisory Committee
Q4. Consider the following statements regarding the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare as compared with other parliamentary committees:
1. Like every other Department-related Standing Committee, it consists of not more than 31 members, of whom two-thirds are drawn from the Lok Sabha.
2. It is one of the Committees placed within the jurisdiction of the Chairman, Rajya Sabha, whereas the Standing Committee on Finance functions under the Speaker, Lok Sabha.
3. Unlike an ad hoc committee, which stands dissolved once it reports on the task assigned to it, its own tenure is co-terminous with the life of the Lok Sabha.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- Like every other Department-related Standing Committee, it consists of not more than 31 members, of whom two-thirds are drawn from the Lok Sabha.
- It is one of the Committees placed within the jurisdiction of the Chairman, Rajya Sabha, whereas the Standing Committee on Finance functions under the Speaker, Lok Sabha.
- Unlike an ad hoc committee, which stands dissolved once it reports on the task assigned to it, its own tenure is co-terminous with the life of the Lok Sabha.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q5. The 'structured cross-subsidisation policy' urged by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare in its 176th Report is best understood as which one of the following?
- A. A framework tying advanced infrastructure created with foreign capital to demonstrable benefit for the domestic population
- B. A rule requiring foreign-funded hospitals to remit their entire surplus to a central health corpus each financial year
- C. A directive obliging all State governments to fully reimburse private hospitals for every below-cost procedure performed
- D. A permission allowing foreign investors to offset losses in rural units against tax liability on all urban operations
Q6. How many recommendations in total does the 176th Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare, on the affordability and accessibility of healthcare facilities, contain?
Q7. The National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) operates as a constituent board of which one of the following bodies?
- A. The Quality Council of India, an autonomous body instituted by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry
- B. The National Health Authority, an attached office under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
- C. The Bureau of Indian Standards, the national standards body under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs
- D. The National Medical Commission, the statutory regulator constituted in place of the Medical Council of India
Q8. With reference to accreditation of hospitals in India, which one of the following statements is correct?
- A. It is a voluntary process, left entirely to the discretion of the healthcare organisation concerned
- B. It is compulsory for every hospital in the country before it may admit in-patients for treatment
- C. It is a mandatory precondition, without exception, for registration under the Clinical Establishments Act
- D. It is obligatory for all hospitals with more than fifty beds and permanently bars the unaccredited ones
Q9. Although public health and hospitals fall in the State List, a central body has been constituted to lay down minimum standards for clinical establishments and to maintain a national register of them. Which one of the following is that body?
- A. The National Council for Clinical Establishments, constituted by the Central Government
- B. The National Health Authority, the implementing agency of Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY
- C. The National Medical Commission, the statutory successor to the Medical Council of India
- D. The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, the national drug regulatory authority
Q10. Consider the following subjects: (i) public health and sanitation, hospitals and dispensaries; (ii) population control and family planning; (iii) medical education; (iv) prevention of the extension from one State to another of infectious or contagious diseases affecting men, animals or plants. How many of these are enumerated in the Concurrent List of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India?
- A. Only one
- B. Only two
- C. Only three
- D. All four
Q11. Of the three reports presented by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare on 7 August 2026, the one carrying the smallest number of recommendations dealt with which subject?
- A. A study of vector-borne diseases in North-East India
- B. Prevalence of chronic kidney disease in India — prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management
- C. Affordability and accessibility of healthcare facilities in the public and private sector
- D. Review of the National AYUSH Mission and the mainstreaming of traditional systems of medicine
Q12. Consider the following statements regarding routes and classification of foreign investment in India:
1. Under the automatic route, the non-resident investor does not require prior approval of the Government for the investment.
2. Proposals that do require government approval are filed through the National Single Window System portal.
3. Acquisition of 10 per cent or more of the post-issue paid-up equity capital of a listed Indian company, on a fully diluted basis, is treated as foreign direct investment.
4. The Consolidated FDI Policy circular is issued by the Reserve Bank of India, which also notifies the sectoral caps applicable to each activity.
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?
- Under the automatic route, the non-resident investor does not require prior approval of the Government for the investment.
- Proposals that do require government approval are filed through the National Single Window System portal.
- Acquisition of 10 per cent or more of the post-issue paid-up equity capital of a listed Indian company, on a fully diluted basis, is treated as foreign direct investment.
- The Consolidated FDI Policy circular is issued by the Reserve Bank of India, which also notifies the sectoral caps applicable to each activity.
- A. 1 and 3
- B. 2 only
- C. 3 and 4
- D. 4 only