Question map
Consider the following statements : Statement-I : India accounts for 3-2% of global export of goods. Statement-II : Many local companies and some foreign companies operating in India have taken advantage of India's 'Production-linked Incentive' scheme. Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
Explanation
The correct answer is Option 4.
Statement-I is incorrect: According to the WTO's World Trade Statistical Review and Economic Survey data, India's share in global merchandise (goods) exports has hovered around 1.8% to 2% in recent years, not 3.2%. While India aims to reach higher targets, the 3.2% figure is factually inaccurate for goods exports alone.
Statement-II is correct: The Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, launched across 14 sectors like electronics, pharmaceuticals, and white goods, has seen significant participation. Both domestic champions and global giants (such as Apple's contract manufacturers and Samsung) have leveraged these incentives to boost local manufacturing and exports.
Since Statement-I is factually wrong regarding India's global trade share, but Statement-II accurately reflects the successful implementation of the PLI scheme by various firms, Option 4 is the only logically sound choice.
PROVENANCE & STUDY PATTERN
Guest previewStatement I is a classic 'Data Swap' trap—UPSC substituted India's 'Services' export share (which is higher) or a future target into the 'Goods' export statistic. Statement II is a 'Policy Logic' sitter found in any newspaper explaining PLI. You must distinguish between Merchandise (Goods) and Services data in the Economic Survey.
This question can be broken into the following sub-statements. Tap a statement sentence to jump into its detailed analysis.
- Statement 1: What percentage share of global merchandise (goods) exports did India account for in 2023?
- Statement 2: How many Indian (local) companies had taken advantage of India's Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes by 2023?
- Statement 3: How many foreign companies operating in India had taken advantage of India's Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes by 2023?
States an explicit policy objective: "To double our percentage share of global merchandise trade within the next five years," implying India considers its current share small and that policymakers track that percentage.
A student could take the policy target as motivation to look up (a) India's merchandise export value for 2023 and (b) total world merchandise exports for 2023, then compute India's share and compare to the baseline implicit in the policy.
Notes that "percentage share of India in the global trade is on the lower side," giving qualitative support that India's share is small relative to major traders.
Combine this qualitative judgment with external numeric data (India's 2023 goods exports and global goods export totals) to assess the precise percentage and its relative smallness.
Provides detailed composition and percentage shares of export commodity groups for India (e.g., manufactured goods 65.7% in 2016–17), which helps estimate the structure of India's exports when comparing to global merchandise flows.
A student could use the composition to determine which commodity categories to compare with global category shares (from world trade data) when calculating or cross-checking India's overall merchandise export share for 2023.
Gives recent sectoral information (manufacturing 67.8% of India's exports in 2021–22) and notes competition from China and East Asia, implying the need to consider global leaders when judging India's global share.
Use these sector weights plus known global export values by sector (from international trade statistics) to estimate whether India's overall merchandise share in 2023 is plausibly small or growing.
States an explicit goal to "double India's share in world agri exports" and past baseline ($30+ billion in 2017–18), showing that for specific sectors India tracks shares and values as a route to estimating global share.
A student can use the provided baseline agricultural export value and compare it to world agricultural export totals (external data) to estimate India's agri share, then aggregate sectoral estimates to inform an overall merchandise-share estimate for 2023.
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