UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — India’s Power Sector:

Q1. Under the Electricity Act, 2003, the term 'open access' most precisely refers to which one of the following?

  • A. The non-discriminatory use of transmission or distribution lines of a licensee by any other licensee, generator or consumer, on payment of charges
  • B. The de-licensing of electricity generation so that no licence is required to set up a generating station
  • C. The unbundling of State Electricity Boards into separate generation, transmission and distribution companies
  • D. The conduct of electricity trading as an independently licensed commercial activity

Q2. Under the Electricity Act, 2003, which body is empowered to determine the tariff for inter-State transmission of electricity?

  • A. Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC)
  • B. State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC)
  • C. Central Electricity Authority (CEA)
  • D. Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL)

Q3. Which of the following pairs of organisations has been designated as the nodal agencies for implementation of the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS)?

  • A. REC Limited and Power Finance Corporation (PFC)
  • B. NTPC Limited and NHPC Limited
  • C. Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and IREDA
  • D. Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and POSOCO/Grid-India

Q4. In India's official power-sector reporting, the 'non-fossil fuel' installed-capacity category differs from the narrower 'renewable energy' category mainly because the former additionally includes which one of the following?

  • A. Nuclear power capacity
  • B. Large hydro capacity
  • C. Gas-based capacity
  • D. Diesel-based capacity

Q5. As of January 2026, which single source accounts for the largest share of India's installed renewable energy capacity?

  • A. Solar power
  • B. Wind power
  • C. Large hydro power
  • D. Biomass and bagasse cogeneration

Q6. Under PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, the Central Financial Assistance covers what proportion of the benchmark cost of a rooftop solar system of up to 2 kW capacity?

  • A. 40%
  • B. 50%
  • C. 60%
  • D. 75%

Q7. With an outlay of about ₹75,021 crore targeting one crore households, PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana is best described as India's flagship programme for which one of the following?

  • A. Residential (domestic) rooftop solar installation
  • B. Utility-scale solar park development
  • C. Standalone solar agriculture pumps
  • D. Offshore wind energy deployment

Q8. Which scheme was the first comprehensive financial-turnaround and debt-restructuring framework launched specifically for India's State-owned power distribution companies?

  • A. UDAY (Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana)
  • B. Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS)
  • C. Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS)
  • D. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY)

Q9. Under Section 76 of the Electricity Act, 2003, apart from the Chairperson and the ex-officio Member, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) consists of how many other Members?

  • A. Two
  • B. Three
  • C. Four
  • D. Five

Q10. In the Draft Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2025, a 'cost-reflective tariff' is best understood as a tariff that —

  • A. reflects the actual cost of supplying electricity to a consumer category
  • B. is kept uniform across all States by the Central Government
  • C. is deliberately set below cost to subsidise agricultural consumers
  • D. is determined solely by competitive market bidding without regulatory oversight
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