UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Press note on release of Expert Group Report on Comprehensive Updation of CPI

Q1. The Expert Group Report on Comprehensive Updation of the Consumer Price Index was released by, and the CPI 2024 series is operationalised under, which one of the following?

  • A. Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI)
  • B. Ministry of Labour & Employment
  • C. Reserve Bank of India
  • D. Ministry of Finance

Q2. In the updated series, the notation '2024=100' primarily signifies which one of the following?

  • A. The average price level of the reference base year 2024 is set equal to 100, and prices in other periods are expressed relative to it
  • B. The CPI is permitted to rise by no more than 100 points above its 2024 level
  • C. Exactly 100 items were surveyed in 2024 to construct the index
  • D. The base year 2024 recorded a retail inflation rate of 100 per cent

Q3. Which one of the following bodies actually compiles and releases the all-India Consumer Price Index (Rural, Urban and Combined)?

  • A. National Statistical Office (NSO) under MoSPI
  • B. Labour Bureau under the Ministry of Labour & Employment
  • C. Monetary Policy Department of the Reserve Bank of India
  • D. Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs

Q4. The Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW), maintained separately from the NSO's CPI, is currently compiled on which one of the following base years?

  • A. 2016=100
  • B. 2001=100
  • C. 2012=100
  • D. 2024=100

Q5. In India's CPI (Combined) consumption basket, which one of the following has traditionally carried the single largest weight?

  • A. Food and beverages
  • B. Housing
  • C. Transport and communication
  • D. Clothing and footwear

Q6. Under the RBI's flexible inflation targeting framework, the Reserve Bank is deemed to have failed to meet its inflation mandate when which one of the following occurs?

  • A. Average CPI inflation remains outside the 2%–6% tolerance band for three consecutive quarters
  • B. CPI inflation exceeds 4 per cent in any single month
  • C. CPI inflation exceeds 6 per cent in any single quarter
  • D. The repo rate is left unchanged for three consecutive MPC meetings

Q7. COICOP 2018, the classification framework adopted for the CPI 2024 series, was endorsed as an international statistical standard by which one of the following?

  • A. United Nations Statistical Commission (UN Statistics Division)
  • B. International Monetary Fund
  • C. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
  • D. World Bank

Q8. In MoSPI's 2026 calendar for launching new/updated statistical series, which one of the following was scheduled to be released earliest?

  • A. New CPI series (base 2024=100)
  • B. New GDP series (base 2022-23)
  • C. Revised Index of Industrial Production (IIP) series
  • D. New Periodic Labour Force Survey series