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CSAT 2021 paper

UPSC CSE CSAT 2021 · Question 21 · Reading comprehension

Which one of the following statements best reflects the critical message conveyed by the passage…

Directions for the following 4 (four) items: Read the following four passages and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only.

Passage—1

India faces a challenging immediate future in energy and climate policy-making. The problems are multiple: sputtering fossil fuel production capabilities; limited access to electricity and modern cooking fuel for the poorest; rising fuel imports in an unstable global energy context; continued electricity pricing and governance challenges leading to its costly deficits or surplus supply; and not least, growing environmental contestation around land, water and air. But all is not bleak: growing energy efficiency programmes; integrated urbanisation and transport policy discussions; inroads to enhancing energy access and security; and bold renewable energy initiatives, even if not fully conceptualised, suggest the promise of transformation.

CSAT 2021 · Q21

Reading comprehension Medium

Which one of the following statements best reflects the critical message conveyed by the passage given above?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) India’s energy decision-making process is ever more complex and interconnected.

The passage lists linked problems — fuel production, access for the poorest, imports, pricing and governance, land, water and air — and then an equally varied set of hopeful initiatives. The message is that India's energy decisions involve many connected strands, which is (a).

  • ✓ (a) 'The problems are multiple' and span supply, access, imports, pricing, governance and environment, while responses span efficiency, urbanisation, transport and renewables — a complex, interconnected picture.
  • ✗ (b) The passage never says policy is 'heavily tuned' to sustainable development goals; it even calls renewable initiatives 'not fully conceptualised'.
  • ✗ (c) Too negative: 'all is not bleak' and there is 'the promise of transformation'; no incompatibility is claimed.
  • ✗ (d) The passage mentions demand-side measures such as energy efficiency and access; nothing is called straightforward.

Remember · When a passage piles up interlinked problems and responses, the message is usually complexity, not a one-sided verdict.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·

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