Consider the following statements : 1. India's bio-economy contributes about 4·25 % to the GDP in India. 2. BioE3 promotes regenerative bio-manufacturing and supports a circular bio-economy aligned with India's net-zero goals. Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
- (a)1 only
- (b)2 only
- (c)Both 1 and 2
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2
Answer
Why
Correct — C, (c) Both 1 and 2.
Both statements come from the Government's own account of the bioeconomy, and both are accurate.
Statement 1 is correct. India's bioeconomy has grown from about 10 billion dollars in 2014 to about 165.7 billion dollars in 2024, and the sector is recorded as contributing 4.25 per cent to national gross domestic product, having grown at a compound annual rate of about 17.9 per cent over the preceding four years. The stated policy goal is a bioeconomy of 300 billion dollars by 2030. The figure in the statement matches the published one exactly, including the decimals.
Statement 2 is correct and reproduces the official description of the policy almost word for word. BioE3 - Biotechnology for Economy, Environment and Employment - was approved by the Union Cabinet on 24 August 2024, and it is summarised in the Government's own material as promoting regenerative biomanufacturing and supporting a circular bioeconomy aligned with India's net-zero goals. Its three named objectives are in its title: economic growth through high-performance biomanufacturing, environmental benefit through a shift from chemical-based to bio-based production with a lower carbon footprint, and employment, particularly through the use of local biomass in smaller cities. Its instruments are biomanufacturing facilities, bio-foundry clusters and bio-AI hubs.
Where the two statements are read together, they describe the same policy area from two sides: the first gives the sector's present weight in the economy, and the second the framework intended to expand it. Neither contains an alteration, and the answer is the option that accepts both.
A note on the printed stem: the decimal in the first statement is set with a raised middle dot rather than a full stop, and there is a space before the per-cent sign. Both are features of this booklet's typography and neither affects the figure.
Why the others are wrong
- (a)1 only — This option accepts the bioeconomy figure and rejects the description of BioE3. The description is not a paraphrase but very nearly the official formula: regenerative biomanufacturing, a circular bioeconomy, and alignment with net-zero goals are the three phrases in which the policy is habitually summarised. A candidate may hesitate because the sentence reads like a string of policy vocabulary, and it is worth being clear that this is precisely how the policy is described in the material it comes from - the register is a reason for confidence here rather than for suspicion.
- (b)2 only — This option accepts the policy description and rejects the figure. The figure is exact and published: the bioeconomy is recorded as contributing 4.25 per cent of gross domestic product, having reached about 165.7 billion dollars in 2024 from about 10 billion in 2014. A candidate is most likely to reject it for being too large - a bioeconomy worth over four per cent of the economy sounds substantial - but the term covers a wide field, including biopharmaceuticals, industrial biotechnology, bio-agriculture, biofuels and bio-services, and it is that breadth rather than any single industry that produces the figure.
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2 — This option rejects both statements, and it is the answer of a candidate for whom the whole subject is unfamiliar and who treats two confident-sounding claims as too good to be true. Both are on the record: the 4.25 per cent share and the 165.7 billion dollar valuation for 2024 are the headline figures of the Government's decadal account of the sector, and the description of BioE3 in the second statement is the standard summary of a policy the Cabinet approved on 24 August 2024. Rejecting a statement because it is confidently phrased is not a test of anything.
Concept
The bioeconomy is the part of economic activity that uses biological resources, processes or knowledge to produce goods and services. It is a wider category than the biotechnology industry, and the breadth is what makes the headline figure large. Its principal segments are biopharmaceuticals - vaccines, biologics and diagnostics; industrial biotechnology, including enzymes and bio-based chemicals; bio-agriculture, covering seeds and biological inputs; bioenergy, including ethanol and other biofuels; and bio-IT and bio-services, such as contract research and manufacturing.
The measured trajectory: about 10 billion dollars in 2014, about 165.7 billion dollars in 2024, a contribution of 4.25 per cent of gross domestic product, growth of about 17.9 per cent a year over the preceding four years, and a stated target of 300 billion dollars by 2030.
BioE3 is the policy framework for the next phase, approved by the Union Cabinet on 24 August 2024 and administered by the Department of Biotechnology. Its name states its three objectives - economy, environment and employment - and its content is worth knowing in outline for these papers.
Its core idea is high-performance biomanufacturing: making with biological systems what is now made chemically. Two terms recur in its description and are worth distinguishing. Regenerative biomanufacturing means production that restores rather than depletes the resource base it draws on. A circular bioeconomy means keeping biological materials in use - converting agricultural residues into fuels and materials, for example - instead of treating them as waste. Both are tied to the net-zero commitment, since bio-based production is intended to displace carbon-intensive chemical routes.
Its instruments are biomanufacturing facilities, bio-foundry clusters and bio-AI hubs, with an employment emphasis on tier-two and tier-three cities where local biomass is available.
Science and technology policy is a regular part of the current-affairs block on these papers, and the questions are set on named policies and their headline numbers rather than on the underlying science. BioE3, the National Quantum Mission, the semiconductor mission and the space policy are the kind of material to expect.
The two-statement format here pairs a figure with a policy description, which is the standard pairing. What is unusual is that neither has been altered - the item is one of those in which both statements are correct, and a candidate who assumes that at least one must be wrong will manufacture a doubt about whichever seems less familiar.
That is worth naming as a habit, because it costs marks in both directions. An item is not built to contain an error; it is built to test whether each statement can be assessed on its own. The discipline is to judge each statement against what is known and to accept the resulting combination even when it feels too easy.
The printed stem also carries two typographic features worth noting: the decimal point is a raised middle dot, and there is a space before the per-cent sign. Both are house style in this booklet.
Key facts
- India's bioeconomy grew from about 10 billion dollars in 2014 to about 165.7 billion dollars in 2024 and contributes 4.25 per cent of gross domestic product, at a compound annual growth rate of about 17.9 per cent over the preceding four years.
- The stated policy goal is a bioeconomy of 300 billion dollars by 2030.
- BioE3 stands for Biotechnology for Economy, Environment and Employment, and was approved by the Union Cabinet on 24 August 2024 under the Department of Biotechnology.
- The policy is officially described as promoting regenerative biomanufacturing and supporting a circular bioeconomy aligned with India's net-zero goals, with a shift from chemical-based to bio-based production.
- Its instruments are biomanufacturing facilities, bio-foundry clusters and bio-AI hubs, with an employment emphasis on tier-two and tier-three cities that can supply local biomass.
Study next
Common traps
- Assuming a two-statement item must contain an error and rejecting whichever statement is less familiar.
- Rejecting the 4.25 per cent figure as too large, when the bioeconomy is a broad category covering pharmaceuticals, industrial biotechnology, agriculture, energy and services.
- Confusing the bioeconomy's size in dollars with its share of gross domestic product, which are two different measurements reported together.
- Treating a statement written in official policy vocabulary as suspect; here that vocabulary is the evidence that it comes from the source.
- Reading the raised middle dot in the printed figure as anything other than a decimal point.
Policy and mission items on these papers pair a quantity with a description, and the quantity is usually taken verbatim from a Government release - which means the decimals matter and a rounded recollection may not be enough to distinguish two options. Because the descriptions are also lifted from official material, they tend to read as strings of policy terms, and candidates who mistrust that register lose marks. The preparation that works is to keep, for each significant mission or policy, its full form, its approving authority and date, its headline number, and the two or three phrases in which it is officially summarised.
Related PYQs
EPFO_APFC_2023_Q119Which of the following statements about a ‘unicorn’ is/are correct? 1. In the venture capital industry, the term ‘unicorn’ refers to any startup that reaches the valuation of $10 billion. 2. Only a privately held startup can be a unicorn. Select the correct answer using the code given below.
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) Both 1 and 2
- (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer(b) 2 only
A two-statement item on what makes a startup a unicorn, testing a definition and a threshold in the same format used here for a policy and a figure.
EPFO_APFC_2023_Q93‘eSanjeevani’, a scheme of the Government of India, serves which one among the following objectives?
- (a) Creates a database of people affected by COVID-19
- (b) Promotes the use of telemedicine
- (c) Establishes an electronic National Clinical Registry
- (d) Efficient promotion of health advisories
Answer(b) Promotes the use of telemedicine
Asks which objective the eSanjeevani scheme serves - a named government initiative matched to its purpose.
EPFO_APFC_2023_Q58Consider the following statements : 1. The Department of Economic Affairs is a nodal agency of the Government of India to formulate and monitor the country’s economic policies and programmes that have a bearing on the domestic and international aspects of economic management. 2. The principal responsibility of the Department of Economic Affairs is the preparation and presentation of the Union Budget (including the Railway Budget) before the Parliament, and the Budgets for Union Territories and States under the President’s Rule. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) Both 1 and 2
- (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer(c) Both 1 and 2
On the Department of Economic Affairs and its functions, another item requiring the official description of a body rather than a general impression of it.
Practice
- practice — not a real PYQ
BioE3, approved by the Union Cabinet in August 2024, stands for :
- (a)Biotechnology for Energy, Environment and Exports
- (b)Biotechnology for Economy, Environment and Employment
- (c)Bioengineering for Efficiency, Equity and Employment
- (d)Bioeconomy for Energy, Equity and Enterprise
Answer(b) Biotechnology for Economy, Environment and Employment - the three E's name the policy's three objectives, and it is administered by the Department of Biotechnology.
- practice — not a real PYQ
In the context of the BioE3 policy, 'circular bioeconomy' refers to :
- (a)Keeping biological materials in productive use, for instance by converting agricultural residues into fuels and materials
- (b)Restricting biotechnology research to a defined group of institutions
- (c)The rotation of crops within a single agricultural season
- (d)The return of profits from bio-industries to the exchequer
Answer(a) Keeping biological materials in productive use, for instance by converting agricultural residues into fuels and materials - the circular idea is that biological material should re-enter production instead of being treated as waste.