Question map
With reference to the sectors of the Indian economy, consider the following pairs : 1. Storage of agricultural produce - Secondary 2. Dairy farm - Primary 3. Mineral exploration - Tertiary 4. Weaving cloth - Secondary How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched ?
Explanation
The correct answer is **Option B (Only two pairs are correctly matched)**.
Let's analyze each pair:
**Pair 1 - Storage of agricultural produce: Secondary** - **INCORRECT**. Storage activities fall under the tertiary sector as these are activities that help in the development of the primary and secondary sectors and by themselves do not produce a good but are an aid or support for the production process[1].
**Pair 2 - Dairy farm: Primary** - **CORRECT**. The primary sector includes agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishing, poultry farming, mining and quarrying[2]. Since most of the natural products we get are from agriculture, dairy, fishing, forestry, this sector is also called agriculture and related sector[3].
**Pair 3 - Mineral exploration: Tertiary** - **INCORRECT**. Mining and quarrying are included in the primary sector[2], and mineral exploration is a part of mining activities.
**Pair 4 - Weaving cloth: Secondary** - **CORRECT**. Using cotton fibre from the plant, we spin yarn and weave cloth, and this sector[1] is also called the industrial sector[1]. Manufacturing is included in the secondary sector[4].
Therefore, only pairs 2 and 4 are correctly matched.
Sources- [1] Understanding Economic Development. Class X . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: SECTORS OF THE INDIAN ECONOMY > We begin by looking at different kind of economic activities. > p. 19
- [2] Economics, Class IX . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: People as Resource > Economic Activities by Men and Women > p. 19
- [3] Understanding Economic Development. Class X . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: SECTORS OF THE INDIAN ECONOMY > We begin by looking at different kind of economic activities. > p. 19
- [4] Economics, Class IX . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: People as Resource > Economic Activities by Men and Women > p. 19
PROVENANCE & STUDY PATTERN
Full viewThis is a fundamental 'NCERT Check' question. It tests if you understand the *definition* of sectors (Extraction vs. Transformation vs. Service) rather than just memorizing lists. The trap lies in 'Storage' and 'Exploration'โactivities that sit on the boundary of production chains but are functionally services or extraction-linked.
This question can be broken into the following sub-statements. Tap a statement sentence to jump into its detailed analysis.
- Statement 1: Which sector of the Indian economy is "storage of agricultural produce" classified under: primary, secondary, or tertiary?
- Statement 2: Which sector of the Indian economy is a "dairy farm" classified under: primary, secondary, or tertiary?
- Statement 3: Which sector of the Indian economy is "mineral exploration" classified under: primary, secondary, or tertiary?
- Statement 4: Which sector of the Indian economy is "weaving cloth" classified under: primary, secondary, or tertiary?
Gives the standard threefold classification and labels primary = agriculture, secondary = manufacturing/industry, tertiary = services.
A student can use this rule to ask whether 'storage' is closer to production (primary), transformation (secondary) or a service (tertiary).
Lists examples: primary includes agriculture, fishing, etc.; tertiary includes trade, transport, communication, banking, servicesโshowing storage-like activities often appear among service-type examples.
Combine this with the observation that storage is a post-harvest handling activity (not production or manufacturing) to consider if it fits the tertiary/service list.
Defines secondary as activities that change natural products into other forms through manufacturing, distinguishing manufacturing from other post-harvest activities.
Use this to rule out secondary if storage does not materially transform the produce (i.e., no manufacturing).
Mentions 'setting up of cold storage facilities by the governments' as an item listed under what can be considered public investment in agricultureโlinking storage infrastructure with agricultural policy.
A student could interpret cold storage provision as either agriculture-related public investment (link to primary) or as an infrastructural/service input (link to tertiary) and seek further classification based on whether the activity is treated as service provision.
Contains an exercise to classify occupations (e.g., courier, milk vendor) into primary/secondary/tertiary, suggesting classification is often based on function (production vs. processing vs. service/transfer).
Apply the same functional test to 'storage' โ is it production, processing, or a service supporting distribution โ to judge its sectoral placement.
- Defines dairying (keeping cattle for milk) and labels it an important primary activity.
- Directly links dairy farming with primary/agricultural activity in economic location context.
- Explains that dairy is part of agriculture and related activities which form the primary sector.
- Emphasises primary sector as the base producing natural products like dairy.
- Lists animal husbandry and poultry farming within the primary sector, covering dairy-related activities.
- Provides occupation-level examples that place dairy-linked activities in the primary sector.
- Explicitly lists mining and quarrying as activities included in the primary sector.
- Mineral exploration is an activity closely tied to mining, so falls under the same sectoral grouping.
- Defines the threefold classification of economic activities into primary, secondary and tertiary sectors.
- Provides the framework allowing activities like mining/exploration to be assigned to a sector.
- Confirms that official statistics and national accounts use the primary/secondary/tertiary sector division.
- Supports using that tripartite classification to place mineral exploration within one sector.
- Gives the concrete example: using cotton fibre to spin yarn and weave cloth.
- Places such activities in the industrial sector and links that sector to secondary activities.
- Defines the secondary sector as transforming outputs of the primary sector into goods.
- Describes manufacturing and processing of raw materials โ the category that covers weaving cloth.
- Explicitly states that manufacturing is included in the secondary sector.
- Weaving is a manufacturing activity and therefore falls under the secondary sector.
- [THE VERDICT]: Sitter. Directly solvable from NCERT Class 10, Chapter 2 (Sectors of the Indian Economy).
- [THE CONCEPTUAL TRIGGER]: Classification of Economic Activities (Primary, Secondary, Tertiary).
- [THE HORIZONTAL EXPANSION]: Memorize the tricky placements: Construction (Secondary), Electricity/Gas/Water Supply (Secondary/Industrial), Mining & Quarrying (Primary), Storage/Warehousing (Tertiary), Real Estate (Tertiary).
- [THE STRATEGIC METACOGNITION]: Apply the 'Function Test' instead of rote learning. Ask: Does it extract from nature? (Primary). Does it transform a product? (Secondary). Does it support the process without producing a good? (Tertiary).
Economic activities are grouped by whether they extract raw materials, transform them, or provide services.
High-yield: UPSC frequently asks to classify activities into the three sectors and to explain their roles in GDP and employment. Mastery helps distinguish activities like cultivation (primary) fromๅ ๅทฅ/processing (secondary) and service-based activities (tertiary), enabling correct answers on sectoral classification and policy implications.
- Indian Economy, Nitin Singhania .(ed 2nd 2021-22) > Chapter 12: Indian Industry > 12.2 Indian Economy > p. 376
- Understanding Economic Development. Class X . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: SECTORS OF THE INDIAN ECONOMY > We begin by looking at different kind of economic activities. > p. 19
- Understanding Economic Development. Class X . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: SECTORS OF THE INDIAN ECONOMY > SUMMING UP > p. 33
The tertiary sector is defined as the sector that provides services such as trade, transport, communication, banking, education and health.
High-yield: Many questions test recognition of service activities vs goods-producing activities and the growing share of the tertiary sector in output. Understanding this helps classify post-production activities (logistics, trade, finance) and link them to questions on GDP composition and sectoral shifts.
- Economics, Class IX . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: People as Resource > Economic Activities by Men and Women > p. 19
- Understanding Economic Development. Class X . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: SECTORS OF THE INDIAN ECONOMY > Rising Importance of the Tertiary Sector in Production > p. 23
- Understanding Economic Development. Class X . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: SECTORS OF THE INDIAN ECONOMY > SUMMING UP > p. 33
The secondary sector covers activities that change natural products into other forms through manufacturing.
High-yield: Differentiating manufacturing/value-addition from raw production and services is essential for questions on industrial policy, agribusiness (processing vs storage), and measuring value added in GVA/GDP. It enables candidates to classify post-harvest processing correctly and reason about policy measures.
- Indian Economy, Nitin Singhania .(ed 2nd 2021-22) > Chapter 12: Indian Industry > 12.2 Indian Economy > p. 376
- Understanding Economic Development. Class X . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: SECTORS OF THE INDIAN ECONOMY > We begin by looking at different kind of economic activities. > p. 19
Classifying activities by extraction, transformation or services determines where a dairy farm belongs.
High-yield for UPSC as many questions ask to classify occupations or economic activities; links directly to agriculture, industry and services topics and to policy questions on sectoral contributions to GDP and employment.
- Indian Economy, Nitin Singhania .(ed 2nd 2021-22) > Chapter 12: Indian Industry > 12.2 Indian Economy > p. 376
- Understanding Economic Development. Class X . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: SECTORS OF THE INDIAN ECONOMY > We begin by looking at different kind of economic activities. > p. 19
- Understanding Economic Development. Class X . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: SECTORS OF THE INDIAN ECONOMY > SUMMING UP > p. 33
Dairy farming is an animal-husbandry activity counted under primary/agrarian activities.
Essential for questions on rural economy, agricultural statistics and sectoral policy (e.g., dairy cooperatives, Milk mission); helps answer classification and scheme-targeting questions accurately.
- Environment and Ecology, Majid Hussain (Access publishing 3rd ed.) > Chapter 10: Locational Factors of Economic Activities > Dairying > p. 15
- Economics, Class IX . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: People as Resource > Economic Activities by Men and Women > p. 19
- Indian Economy, Nitin Singhania .(ed 2nd 2021-22) > Chapter 9: Agriculture > Overall Achievements in Dairy Sector: > p. 348
Agricultural outputs like milk feed processing industries and service chains, showing how dairy links across sectors.
Useful for analytical UPSC answers that require explaining value chains, employment shifts, and policy impacts across sectors; enables synthesis-type questions connecting production, processing and services.
- Indian Economy, Nitin Singhania .(ed 2nd 2021-22) > Chapter 12: Indian Industry > 12.2 Indian Economy > p. 376
- Understanding Economic Development. Class X . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: SECTORS OF THE INDIAN ECONOMY > We begin by looking at different kind of economic activities. > p. 19
- Understanding Economic Development. Class X . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: SECTORS OF THE INDIAN ECONOMY > SUMMING UP > p. 33
Mining and quarrying are categorized under the primary sector, so mineral exploration (a mining-related activity) is part of the primary sector.
High-yield for UPSC questions on sectoral classification and employment; links resource extraction to rural employment, natural resource policy and regional development. Mastery helps answer questions on structural change, GVA composition and sectoral policy.
- Economics, Class IX . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: People as Resource > Economic Activities by Men and Women > p. 19
The Quaternary (Knowledge/Information) and Quinary (Gold Collar/Decision Makers) sectors. Since they asked about the basic three, the next logical step is to test the advanced sub-sectors of the Tertiary sector.
Use the 'Transformation Logic': 'Storage' keeps the potato as a potato (No transformation = Not Secondary). 'Weaving' turns yarn into cloth (Transformation = Secondary). This simple logic eliminates the distractors immediately.
Link this to National Income Accounting (GVA at Basic Prices). Understand why 'Mining' is often grouped with 'Agriculture' in Primary sector analysis but treated as 'Industry' in IIP (Index of Industrial Production) dataโa potential confusion point for Mains.