UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Cabinet approves Khelo India Sports Goods Manufacturing Scheme for Building a Globally Competitive Sports Manufacturing Ecosystem

Q1. A government wants to support a manufacturing sector, but it wants to avoid spending public money on plants that are built and then left largely unused. Which one of the following incentive designs best meets this aim?

  • A. A one-time capital subsidy released when the plant is commissioned
  • B. A concessional allotment of industrial land at the time of entry
  • C. A payout calculated on the rise in sales over a fixed base year
  • D. An interest subvention on term loans taken to build the plant

Q2. A dedicated zone brings together sports-goods manufacturers, component suppliers, a testing laboratory and a design-and-prototyping centre. Which of the following are likely sources of cost advantage for firms located in such a zone?

  1. Shared access to testing and prototyping facilities that a single small firm could not afford on its own
  2. Lower transport and transaction costs in sourcing intermediate inputs from nearby suppliers
  3. Knowledge spillovers through a common pool of skilled workers and designers
  4. Exemption of products made in the zone from International Sports Federation certification requirements
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 1, 2, 3 and 4
  • C. 2, 3 and 4 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3 only

Q3. Consider the following assertion: Providing common facilities such as testing laboratories in an existing manufacturing cluster benefits small firms proportionately more than large firms. Which of the following statements support the above assertion?

  1. Facilities such as testing laboratories carry high fixed costs, and a small firm cannot spread these over a large volume of output.
  2. Large firms can usually afford to set up such facilities within their own plants.
  3. Common facilities raise the minimum scale of output that each small firm must reach on its own to operate efficiently.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 3
  • D. 2 and 3 only

Q4. With reference to the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are NOT correct?

  1. It recognises the right of members to adopt technical regulations for legitimate objectives such as protecting human health or safety, provided these do not create unnecessary obstacles to trade.
  2. A technical regulation that is in accordance with relevant international standards is rebuttably presumed not to create an unnecessary obstacle to international trade.
  3. It allows a member to subject imported products to stricter conformity-assessment procedures than like domestic products whenever the importing member considers this necessary.
  • A. 3 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 3
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1 only

Q5. The Khelo India Sports Goods Manufacturing Scheme places its new manufacturing zones within industrial parks developed under existing programmes such as BHAVYA and the NICDC, rather than building stand-alone greenfield sites. It also routes R&D, start-up support, skilling and export branding through other existing programmes. Which of the following is/are likely consequence(s) of this design?

  1. New zones can become operational sooner, because land and core infrastructure are already being developed under the parent programmes.
  2. Duplication of public spending on infrastructure and institutions is reduced.
  3. How well the scheme is delivered comes to depend partly on the progress and coordination of programmes run outside the scheme itself.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 only
  • D. 1 and 2 only