Industry, infrastructure & investment

Answer: (a) 1 only

Automotive tyres and tubes are among the products that must carry the BIS Standard (ISI) Mark because they affect safety. AGMARK is an Indian mark, given by the Directorate of Marketing and Inspection of the Ministry of Agriculture under a 1937 Act, not by the FAO.

• ✓ 1. For products that affect health and safety, BIS certification is compulsory; automotive tyres and tubes are under compulsory certification, so they must bear the ISI mark.
• ✗ 2. AGMARK grading is run by India's Directorate of Marketing and Inspection under the Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marking) Act, 1937. The FAO is a UN agency and issues no such mark.

Remember · ISI mark = BIS (compulsory for safety items like automotive tyres, LPG cylinders, cement). AGMARK = Directorate of Marketing and Inspection, Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marking) Act, 1937.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 7 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Ch 12 (practise this chapter) · Class 10 Understanding Economic Development, Ch 5 (practise this chapter)

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2

The National IPR Policy approved by the Union Cabinet in May 2016 explicitly reiterates India's commitment to the Doha Development Agenda and the TRIPS agreement, and makes the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) the nodal department for IPRs in India. Both statements are correct.

• ✓ 1. The policy notes India's TRIPS-compliant legal framework and reiterates its commitment to the Doha Development Agenda and the TRIPS agreement while using the flexibilities they allow.
• ✓ 2. DIPP was named the nodal department to coordinate, guide and oversee the implementation and future development of IPRs, monitoring action by other ministries.
• • Since then Since January 2019, DIPP has been renamed the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), which continues as the nodal department for IPR.

Remember · National IPR Policy (May 2016): slogan 'Creative India; Innovative India'; TRIPS and Doha commitment reiterated; DIPP (now DPIIT) nodal department.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2

Both statements are correct. QCI is an autonomous society that the Government of India created in partnership with Indian industry, and its Chairman is nominated by the Prime Minister.

• ✓ 1. A committee of ministries and industry recommended, and the Cabinet Committee accepted, that the quality body be built jointly by Government and industry. The result was QCI, a non-profit autonomous society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
• ✓ 2. QCI's Council lists its Chairman as 'nominated by Prime Minister of India'. The Council has equal representation of Government, industry and other stakeholders.

Remember · QCI: autonomous society (1997) set up jointly by the Government of India and industry; its Chairman is nominated by the Prime Minister; the Commerce Ministry's DPIIT is its nodal department.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2

Neither statement is correct. The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) is a Ministry of Finance-backed fund set up in December 2015 as a Category II Alternative Investment Fund, not an organ of NITI Aayog, and its proposed corpus was ₹40,000 crore, one-tenth of the figure stated.

• ✗ 1. NIIF was formed on 28 December 2015 as a Category II Alternative Investment Fund structured as a trust, with the Government of India holding 49%. It is run by NIIF Limited and comes under the Ministry of Finance, not NITI Aayog.
• ✗ 2. The proposed corpus was ₹40,000 crore (about US$ 6 billion), with an initial authorised corpus of ₹20,000 crore. ₹4,00,000 crore is ten times too large.
• • Since then In June 2026 the Cabinet approved a further ₹30,000 crore, taking the Government of India's total commitment to NIIF to ₹60,000 crore (PIB, 29 June 2026).

Remember · NIIF (Dec 2015) is a Ministry of Finance-backed sovereign-anchored fund with a proposed corpus of ₹40,000 crore. It is not part of NITI Aayog.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) World Bank collaboration that facilitates the preparation and structuring of complex infrastructure Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to enable mobilization of private sector and institutional investor capital.

The Global Infrastructure Facility (GIF) is a G20 initiative, backed by the World Bank, that helps governments prepare and structure infrastructure projects so that private and institutional money can be attracted. It is not an ASEAN, OECD or UNCTAD body.

• ✓ (b) The GIF is a collaboration platform that gives funding and advisory support to governments and multilateral development banks to structure bankable infrastructure projects, including PPPs, in emerging markets, in order to mobilise private capital.
• ✗ (a) It is a global G20 initiative, not an ASEAN scheme. Its funding comes from governments (Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Singapore, the United States) and the World Bank, not from Asian Development Bank credit.
• ✗ (c) Its platform brings together governments, multilateral development banks and the private sector; it is not a group of the world's major banks working with the OECD.
• ✗ (d) UNCTAD is not among its funders, which are the governments named above and the World Bank.

Remember · GIF: a World Bank-backed G20 initiative that prepares bankable, complex infrastructure and PPP projects to mobilise private capital.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error