Day-635 | Daily MCQs | UPSC Prelims | ECONOMY

Answer: A
Explanation:
Statement 1 is correct: The Union Cabinet has approved the PM-Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana with a total outlay of Rs.75,021 crore for installing rooftop solar and providing free electricity up to 300 units every month for One Crore households.
The proposed scheme will result in addition of 30 GW of solar capacity through rooftop solar in the residential sector.
Statement 2 is incorrect: Households will be able to access collateral-free low-interest loan products of around 7% at present for installation of residential RTS systems up to 3 kW. No interest-free loans will be provided.
The scheme provides a Central Finance Assistance of 60% of system cost for 2 kW systems and 40% of additional system cost for systems between 2 to 3 kW capacity. The CFA will be capped at 3 kW. At current benchmark prices, this will mean Rs 30,000 subsidy for 1 kW system, Rs 60,000 for 2 kW systems and Rs 78,000 for 3 kW systems or higher.

Answer: C
Explanation:
Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect
Explanation:
• Statement I is correct: Indirect taxes are regressive in nature as they are levied equally upon taxpayers. Everyone has to pay the same tax amount, regardless of the income. This is because they are based on the price of the product rather than the income of the person.
• Statement II is incorrect: The burden of the indirect tax can be shifted on to others. For example, the burden of Goods and Services Tax (GST), a form of an indirect tax, is passed on to final consumers through the price of goods and services.

Answer: D
Explanation:
Statement 1 is incorrect: Small Finance Banks (SFBs) are financial institutions that provide financial services to a country’s underserved and unbanked areas.
Financial inclusion has been the objective of establishing the Payments Bank as well. They are not restricted to cater to urban areas only. Like SFBs, Payments Banks are also required to have more than 25% of their branches in rural areas.
Statement 2 is incorrect: SFBs can engage in all basic banking activities such as lending and accepting deposits. On the other hand, Payments Banks cannot give loans and can accept deposits only up to Rs 2 lakh.

Answer: A
Explanation:
Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is the correct explanation for Statement-I
Explanation:
Gross domestic Product measures the national income by adding up all expenditures in the economy.
GDP = GVA + taxes earned by the government — subsidies given by the government
GVA and GDP differ in respect to the treatment of taxes and subsidies.
Overall, GDP tends  to  be higher  than  GVA as tax collections often remain bigger than subsidy payouts.
India’s GDP rose to a six-quarter high of 8.4% in Q3 FY24, surpassing estimates, while GVA growth stood at 6.5% during the same period. The divergence has been attributed to reduced fertilizer subsidy disbursement.

Answer: D
Explanation:
Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) is a minimum percentage of deposits that a commercial bank has to maintain in the form of liquid cash, gold or other securities.
These are not reserved with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), but with banks themselves. The SLR was prescribed by Section 24 (2A) of Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
SLR can be maintained as:
1. Cash
2. Gold
3. Dated securities of the Government of India issued from time to time under the market borrowing programme and the Market Stabilization Scheme
4. Treasury Bills of the Government of India
5. State Development Loans (SDLs) of the state governments issued from time to time under the market borrowing programme.
6. Securities lodged with another institution for an advance or any other credit arrangement to the extent to which such securities have not been drawn against or availed of
7. Securities offered as collateral to the RBI for availing liquidity assistance from Marginal Standing Facility, upto the permissible percentage of the total NDTL in India.
Hence, all the options are correct.