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General Studies 2021 GS Paper III 10 marks 150 words Compulsory Explain

GS Paper III — Q1

Explain the difference between computing methodology of India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) before the year 2015 and after the…

Explain the difference between computing methodology of India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) before the year 2015 and after the year 2015. (Answer in 150 words)

हिंदी में प्रश्न पढ़ें

भारत की सकल घरेलु उत्पाद (जी.डी.पी.) के वर्ष 2015 के पूर्व तथा वर्ष 2015 के पश्चात् परिकलन विधि में अंतर की व्याख्या कीजिए । (150 शब्दों में उत्तर दीजिए)

Q1 of the 2021 UPSC Mains General Studies GS Paper III, as printed
The question as printed in the 2021 General Studies paper
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Model answer

Written by UPSC Answer Check against this question's marking rubric, to the 150-word length. UPSC does not publish answers for Mains — this is one way to score well, not an official key.

India's GDP computation changed materially after the 2015 base-year revision. The base year moved from 2004-05 to 2011-12, and the reference series shifted from GDP at factor cost to GDP at market prices, calculated as GVA at basic prices plus product taxes minus product subsidies. The market-price basis explicitly shows the net effect of product taxes and subsidies on national income accounting. Data sources were widened: MCA-21 corporate filings replaced RBI sample studies for the corporate sector, while ASI remained a key manufacturing source, estimates now shifted toward GST-based data and revised labour-input metrics. Deflation was refined, using CPI rather than WPI for certain sectors, improving price consistency. Coverage of the informal sector and unorganized manufacturing was expanded through new surveys and administrative records. These changes captured previously undercounted activity, making the series more comprehensive and comparable, though they also made level comparisons with pre-2015 data difficult for policy analysis.

What "Explain" is asking you to do

Make the working of something clear — what sets it off, what follows from what, and what it produces. Explain is the Commission's mechanism word: it dominates the technical papers and the “explain why” stems, where the marks sit in the causal chain and not in the label.

Structure that answers it

State what it is → the initiating condition → the chain of cause, step by step → an instance where it plays out → what the chain produces

Where marks are lost

Describing what something looks like instead of why it works that way. Naming the stages without linking them reads as description too.

All UPSC directive words, compared →

How this answer will be evaluated

Approach

Framework: GS3 Economy: Carry live data, draw simple diagram. explain: definition/context > points in order > small example > short close Full marks: Precise comparison of base years, sectors, and data sources.

Key points expected

  • Identify 2011-12 as the old base year
  • Identify 2011-12 as the new base year
  • Mention the change in the number of establishments

Evaluation rubric

Each sub-part is marked on its own, against the marks and word limit printed on the paper.

  1. The answer Contrast the GDP calculation methodology before and after 2015.  · 150 words

    explain— definition/context → points in order → small example → short close

    Must cover

    • Identify 2011-12 as the old base year
    • Identify 2011-12 as the new base year
    • Mention the change in the number of establishments
    • Mention the change in the number of establishments

    Loses marks

    • Confusing GSDP with GDP
    • Failing to mention the base year change
    • Vague generalities without specific methodological shifts

    Earns more

    • Mention the change in the number of establishments
    • Mention the change in the number of establishments
    • Mention the change in the number of establishments
    • Mention the change in the number of establishments

    Extra mark

    • Mention the change in the number of establishments
    • Mention the change in the number of establishments

Practice this exact question

Write your answer and it is marked point by point against the model answer above — what you covered, what you missed, what you got wrong.

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