UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — The arithmetic of Tamil Nadu’s growth ambition
Q1. Tamil Nadu's largest-ever headline economic target, announced by the Chief Minister at the NITI Aayog Governing Council meeting in June 2026, is for the State to become a $1.5 trillion economy by which one of the following financial years?
- A. 2029-30
- B. 2030-31
- C. 2033-34
- D. 2035-36
Q2. To attain the $1.5 trillion goal, Tamil Nadu's GSDP at current prices would have to rise, over the ten years from its 2025-26 level, by approximately how many times?
- A. 2.5 times
- B. 3.6 times
- C. 4.9 times
- D. 6.4 times
Q3. The annual estimates of Gross State Domestic Product of a State in India are compiled by which one of the following?
- A. The Directorate of Economics and Statistics of the State Government concerned
- B. The National Statistical Office under the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
- C. The Reserve Bank of India, through its Handbook of Statistics on Indian States
- D. The State Support Mission of NITI Aayog, in consultation with the State Finance Department
Q4. With reference to the base year of India's national accounts, which one of the following statements is correct?
- A. A new series of GDP estimates with base year 2022-23 was released in February 2026, replacing the series with base year 2011-12
- B. The base year is fixed by statute and can be altered only by amending the Collection of Statistics Act, 2008
- C. Every State must necessarily shift its GSDP series to the new base year in the same year as the national series is revised
- D. The series with base year 2011-12 was introduced in January 2011 and was the first to be compiled at current prices
Q5. Consider the following statements regarding nominal and real growth in the context of a dollar-denominated GSDP target:
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?
- Real GSDP is measured at the constant prices of the base year, whereas nominal GSDP is measured at current prices.
- A required nominal growth of 17.2 per cent per annum, with inflation assumed at 5 per cent per annum, implies a required real growth of about 12.2 per cent per annum.
- The implicit price deflator is obtained by dividing real GDP by nominal GDP and multiplying by 100.
- Because the dollar conversion of GSDP is applied to the constant-price series, a dollar-denominated GSDP target is unaffected by the assumed rate of domestic inflation.
- A. 1 and 2
- B. 3 only
- C. 3 and 4
- D. 2, 3 and 4
Q6. In the first quarter (April-June) of 2026-27, which one of the following aggregates recorded the highest year-on-year growth rate in India?
- A. Gross Domestic Product at constant prices
- B. Gross Value Added at constant prices
- C. Gross Domestic Product at current prices
- D. Gross Value Added at current prices
Q7. Consider the following statements about the World Bank's classification of economies by income:
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- Economies are grouped on the basis of Gross National Income per capita converted into US dollars by the World Bank Atlas method.
- The classification is updated once every year, on 1 July, on the basis of the preceding year's Gross National Income per capita.
- The thresholds are held constant in real terms by adjusting them annually using the SDR deflator, a weighted average of the GDP deflators of China, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Euro Area.
- Economies are placed in five income categories, of which the lowest is designated the 'least developed economies' group.
- A. 1, 2 and 3 only
- B. 2 and 4 only
- C. 1 and 4 only
- D. 1, 2, 3 and 4
Q8. Four economies report Gross National Income per capita (Atlas method) of $1,100, $4,700, $14,500 and $16,383 respectively. Going by the World Bank thresholds in force for fiscal year 2027, how many of these would fall in the high-income group?
- A. Only one
- B. Only two
- C. Only three
- D. All four
Q9. Consider the following statements comparing Tamil Nadu's earlier trillion-dollar ambition with the goal announced in June 2026:
1. The earlier articulation was a $1 trillion economy by 2030, whereas the newer one is a $1.5 trillion economy by 2035-36.
2. The earlier push was to be driven by sunrise sectors including electric vehicles, semiconductors, advanced chemistry cells, technical textiles, aerospace, defence and shipbuilding.
3. Alongside the earlier goal, the State set a target of raising exports to $26 billion by 2030 from a base of $100 billion.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The earlier articulation was a $1 trillion economy by 2030, whereas the newer one is a $1.5 trillion economy by 2035-36.
- The earlier push was to be driven by sunrise sectors including electric vehicles, semiconductors, advanced chemistry cells, technical textiles, aerospace, defence and shipbuilding.
- Alongside the earlier goal, the State set a target of raising exports to $26 billion by 2030 from a base of $100 billion.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q10. Tamil Nadu recorded double-digit real growth in Gross State Domestic Product in which one of the following pairs of consecutive years?
- A. 2021-22 and 2022-23
- B. 2022-23 and 2023-24
- C. 2024-25 and 2025-26
- D. 2025-26 and 2026-27
Q11. C. Rangarajan, who co-authored the arithmetic assessment of Tamil Nadu's $1.5 trillion target, has served as Chairman of which one of the following Finance Commissions of India?
- A. Eleventh Finance Commission
- B. Twelfth Finance Commission
- C. Thirteenth Finance Commission
- D. Fourteenth Finance Commission