Infrastructure: Transport

The IWAI was set up in 1986 under the Inland Waterways Authority of India Act, 1985 and works under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, with its headquarters at Noida. It develops and regulates national waterways for shipping and navigation: fairway depth, terminals, navigation aids and vessel services. The Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Central Water Commission handle water resources such as irrigation, floods and dams, not navigation.

Statements 1 and 2 are correct. A separate Railway Budget had been presented since 1924, following the Acworth Committee. The Government merged it with the Union Budget from 2017-18, as recommended by a NITI Aayog committee (Bibek Debroy and Kishore Desai). With the merger, the Railways' annual dividend liability to general revenues was abolished and the Ministry of Finance now meets its gross budgetary support. Statement 3 is wrong: Indian Railways remains a departmentally run commercial undertaking of the Government; it was not corporatised, and its accounts and functional autonomy continue as before.

Both statements are correct, and Statement-II explains Statement-I. A vessel or barge carries far more cargo per unit of fuel than a truck, so water transport has the lowest cost per tonne-km for bulk goods such as coal, cement, fertiliser and steel, followed by rail and then road. India's freight is heavily tilted towards road, which raises logistics costs; so Sagarmala, the Coastal Shipping Act, 2025 and inland waterway projects try to shift bulk cargo to water. The lower unit cost is the reason for the push.

Statements 1 and 2 are correct. The Major Port Authorities Act, 2021 replaced the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963 and turned port trusts into port authorities with smaller, professional boards. The Board of each authority can now fix the scale of rates for its services, and the Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP) lost its tariff role; an Adjudicatory Board deals with disputes, including PPP concession disputes. Statement 3 is wrong: the Act applies only to major ports, which are a Union subject; non-major ports are governed by State laws and State Maritime Boards (and, since 2025, by the Indian Ports Act framework).

All three statements are correct. NW-1 (Ganga–Bhagirathi–Hooghly, Haldia to Prayagraj, about 1,620 km) and NW-2 (Brahmaputra, Dhubri to Sadiya, about 891 km) are the two oldest and longest national waterways; NW-3 is the West Coast Canal in Kerala. The National Waterways Act, 2016 added 106 new waterways to the five that already existed, making 111. Only some of these are commercially navigable today; the IWAI develops them in phases based on feasibility studies.

The Jal Marg Vikas Project of the IWAI aims to build capacity for commercial navigation on the Haldia–Varanasi stretch of NW-1 (Ganga), with World Bank support. Its works include multimodal terminals at Varanasi, Sahibganj and Haldia, a new navigation lock at Farakka, fairway development to keep a minimum depth, and river information systems. It lets large barges carry bulk cargo along the Ganga and connect with the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route. The other waterways are developed under separate IWAI plans.

Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Entry 27 of the Union List covers ports declared to be major ports, including the constitution of their port authorities. Entry 31 of the Concurrent List covers 'Ports other than those declared... to be major ports', so both Parliament and State legislatures can make laws on non-major ports, though the coastal States administer them, mostly through State Maritime Boards. Statement 3 is wrong: shipping and navigation on national waterways for mechanically propelled vessels is in Entry 24 of the Union List, which is why the Centre declares national waterways by law and runs them through the IWAI.

Three of them were enacted, so the answer is 'Only three'. In the Monsoon Session of 2025 Parliament passed five maritime laws that replaced colonial-era statutes: the Bills of Lading Act, 2025, the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, 2025, the Coastal Shipping Act, 2025, the Merchant Shipping Act, 2025 (replacing the 1958 Act) and the Indian Ports Act, 2025 (replacing the Indian Ports Act, 1908). Item 4 is wrong: the law on inland vessels is the Inland Vessels Act, 2021, which had already replaced the Inland Vessels Act of 1917; there was no 2025 Act of that name.

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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