Infrastructure: Aviation, power and telecom

Statements 1 and 2 are correct. The Smart Cities Mission (June 2015) chose 100 cities through a two-stage City Challenge competition. Each city implements its plan through a special purpose vehicle incorporated as a limited company under the Companies Act, 2013, promoted jointly by the State or UT and the urban local body. Its strategy combined area-based development (retrofitting, redevelopment and greenfield) with pan-city technology solutions. Statement 3 is wrong: the Mission was limited to the 100 selected cities; universal coverage of statutory towns is a feature of AMRUT 2.0 for water supply, not of the Smart Cities Mission.

LEADS was started in 2018 by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry; since the Logistics Division moved to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), DPIIT brings it out. Modelled on the World Bank's LPI, it rates States and Union Territories on logistics infrastructure, services, the regulatory environment and timeliness, using stakeholder surveys, and groups them as achievers, fast movers and aspirers. The World Bank publishes the separate international LPI, not LEADS.

Both statements are correct. BharatNet, which began in 2011 as the National Optical Fibre Network and was renamed in 2015, aims to connect every gram panchayat with high-speed broadband, mainly by optical fibre, and to make the network available to all service providers on a non-discriminatory basis. It is funded from the universal service fund, which the Telecommunications Act, 2023 has renamed the Digital Bharat Nidhi. On 27 July 2022, as part of the BSNL revival package, the Cabinet approved the merger of BBNL with BSNL, so BSNL now carries out the project while the network remains a national asset.

All three statements are correct. UDAN was launched in October 2016 as part of the National Civil Aviation Policy, 2016 to make flying affordable on unserved and underserved routes; the first flight, Shimla–Delhi, flew in April 2017. Airlines bid for routes and cap fares on a share of seats, and in return receive Viability Gap Funding. The central share comes from the Regional Connectivity Fund, built through a levy on flights on other domestic routes, and the State Governments bear 20% (10% for the North-Eastern States and Union Territories). Later rounds extended the scheme to heliports and water aerodromes as well.

Statements 1 and 2 are correct. By 2006 the Northern, Eastern, Western and North-Eastern grids had been joined into one synchronous grid, often called the 'NEW' grid. On 31 December 2013 POWERGRID commissioned the 765 kV Raichur–Solapur AC line, which synchronised the Southern grid with it and achieved 'One Nation, One Grid, One Frequency'. Statement 3 is wrong: HVDC back-to-back links connect grids asynchronously; synchronisation needs an AC tie, which the Raichur–Solapur line provided. A single synchronous grid lets surplus power, including renewable power, flow freely across regions.

Statement (d) is the incorrect one. Power exchanges, namely the Indian Energy Exchange (operating since 2008), Power Exchange India Ltd and Hindustan Power Exchange, are registered with and regulated by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) under the Electricity Act, 2003, now through its Power Market Regulations, 2021. They run the day-ahead, real-time (since 2020), term-ahead and green markets, in which electricity is bought and sold for physical delivery. They are therefore not regulated by SEBI, even though IEX itself is a company listed on the stock exchanges.

T&D losses are the difference between the energy put into the system and the energy billed; they include technical losses (heat in lines and transformers) and any energy that is used but never billed, such as theft. AT&C losses go one step further and also count collection inefficiency: energy that was billed but whose money was never recovered. So AT&C loss = 1 − (energy billed × collection efficiency ÷ energy input). That is why AT&C is the better measure of a DISCOM's finances.

Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Under UDAY, launched by the Ministry of Power in November 2015, participating States were to take over 75% of DISCOM debt as on 30 September 2015: 50% in 2015-16 and 25% in 2016-17. The rest was to be raised through DISCOM bonds backed by State guarantees. Joining was voluntary, and States signed tripartite agreements committing their DISCOMs to cut losses and the cost-revenue gap. Statement 3 is wrong: to ease the burden, the debt taken over was kept outside the fiscal deficit limits of the States for those two years, though the interest had to be serviced within the normal limits.

Statement I is wrong but Statement II is correct (d). Statement I is wrong because it is reversed: interest income that an InvIT passes on to investors is taxable in their hands. Dividends are usually exempt, as long as the project company has not opted for the lower corporate tax regime. Statement II is right: the Finance Act, 2021 made InvITs and REITs borrowers under the SARFAESI Act, 2002, so lenders can enforce security against them, which makes lending to them safer.

Notice what an InvIT is: like a mutual fund for infrastructure. It pools investors' money into income-earning assets such as toll roads, power lines and pipelines, and passes on most of the income. SEBI regulates both InvITs and REITs. The government uses InvITs for asset monetisation.

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S3i focuses on three of the four (c). The UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) launched Sustainable Investments in Infrastructure and Innovation (S3i) in 2018 to bring private money into infrastructure in developing countries. Its three focus areas are affordable housing, renewable energy and health infrastructure. Item 2 is wrong: mass rapid transport is not one of them. So options (a), (b) and (d) are wrong.

Notice that S3i projects included plans for affordable homes in countries such as Ghana, Kenya and Pakistan, and renewable projects in the Caribbean. UNOPS itself is a UN body based in Copenhagen that manages projects for governments and other UN agencies. The initiative later ran into financial mismanagement concerns and was wound down.

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Only one statement is correct (a). Statement 1 is right: the Stability and Growth Pact (1997) is a set of fiscal rules for EU members: the budget deficit should stay below 3% of GDP and public debt below 60% of GDP. Countries that break the rules face an excessive deficit procedure. Statement 2 is wrong: it says nothing about sharing infrastructure. Statement 3 is wrong: it says nothing about sharing technology.

Notice that the rules were suspended during COVID-19 and reformed in 2024, giving countries more time to cut debt. The aim is to keep the euro stable, since members share a currency but run their own budgets. India's version is the FRBM Act, 2003, which sets fiscal deficit targets for the Centre.

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Both statements are correct (c). Statement 1 is right: the G-20 began in 1999, after the Asian financial crisis, as a meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors to discuss global economic issues. It was raised to leaders' level in 2008, after the global financial crisis. Statement 2 is right: during its 2023 presidency, India pushed digital public infrastructure, such as UPI and Aadhaar-style platforms, as a key priority, and the New Delhi Declaration endorsed it.

Notice India's other G-20 wins: the African Union became a permanent member, and the theme was "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam", One Earth, One Family, One Future. India also launched the Global Biofuels Alliance. South Africa held the presidency in 2025, the first in Africa.

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India is a member of all three (d). Item 1 is right: India is a founding member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which began work in 2016 in Beijing, and is its second-largest shareholder after China, as well as its largest borrower. Item 2 is right: India joined the Missile Technology Control Regime in June 2016, which helps it buy and sell missile technology. Item 3 is right: India became a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in 2017, along with Pakistan. So options (a), (b) and (c) all leave something out.

Notice India's place in the export control clubs: it is in the MTCR, the Wassenaar Arrangement (2017) and the Australia Group (2018), but its bid for the Nuclear Suppliers Group stays blocked by China.

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Only statement 1 is correct (a). Statement 1 is right because the AIIB, set up in 2016 with its headquarters in Beijing, had more than 80 approved members by 2019, and now has about 110. Statement 2 is wrong because China is the largest shareholder, with about 26% of the voting power. India is the second-largest shareholder and the bank's biggest borrower. Statement 3 is wrong because the AIIB has many members from outside Asia, such as the UK, Germany, France, Brazil and Egypt. The USA and Japan are not members.

Notice the comparison: the Asian Development Bank (Manila, 1966) is led by Japan and the USA. The New Development Bank of the BRICS is in Shanghai.

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