MPPSC 2025 Prelims Paper-I · Question 90 of 100

Correct — C, Nearly four-fold. On the state Economic Survey's figures, Madhya Pradesh's per capita income at current prices was about ₹38,500 in 2011-12 and had reached roughly ₹1.4 lakh by 2023-24 (an advance estimate). That is a rise of about 3.6 to 3.7 times over twelve years — already well past three times, and close enough to four that 'nearly four-fold' is the option the commission's key records as correct.

• (a)Doubled — Far too low. A doubling would put 2023-24 at roughly ₹77,000; the actual current-price figure is close to twice that again.
• (b)Nearly tripled — The trap option. Tripling would mean about ₹1.15 lakh, which the state crossed before 2023-24 — the multiple has already gone past three, so 'nearly tripled' understates it and 'nearly four-fold' is the closer description.
• (d)No significant change — Plainly wrong on the data. Even ignoring real growth, twelve years of price rise alone would have lifted a nominal (current-price) figure substantially.

Per capita income of a state is its Net State Domestic Product divided by the projected mid-year population, so it moves with both output and population. It is published two ways. At current prices (nominal) the figure includes the effect of price rise; at constant prices — the present series uses 2011-12 as base year — the price effect is stripped out, so it shows real change. A nominal multiple of about 3.6 over twelve years therefore corresponds to a much smaller rise in real purchasing power.

The question is deliberately framed 'at current prices', which is the exam's way of telling you to expect the larger, inflation-inclusive number. Two habits help here. First, read the price basis before reading the options — the same state over the same years looks very different at constant prices. Second, keep the level and the rank apart: a fast rise in MP's per capita income does not by itself mean the state has overtaken the national average, and MPPSC has asked that comparison separately.

• MP per capita income at current prices: about ₹38,497 in 2011-12, rising to roughly ₹1.4 lakh in 2023-24 (state Economic Survey; the later figure is an advance estimate)
• That works out to a rise of roughly 3.6 to 3.7 times — the basis for the answer 'nearly four-fold'
• Per capita income = Net State Domestic Product ÷ projected mid-year population
• Current prices include inflation; constant (2011-12) prices remove it, so real growth is much smaller than the nominal multiple
• 2011-12 is the base year of the current series of national and state accounts

• Ignoring the words 'at current prices' and reasoning with real growth rates instead
• Reading a fast rise in per capita income as proof that the state has crossed the national average
• Forgetting that per capita income falls if population grows faster than income, even when total output rises

MPPSC asks it as a state-economy data point drawn from the MP Economic Survey — either the multiple, as here, or MP's standing against the all-India figure. UPSC almost never asks a state's number; it tests the concept behind it, especially the current-price versus constant-price distinction.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The per capita income of a state is calculated as:

  • (a)Gross State Domestic Product ÷ number of households
  • (b)Net State Domestic Product ÷ projected mid-year population
  • (c)Total tax revenue ÷ population
  • (d)State budget expenditure ÷ population

  Answer(b) Net State Domestic Product ÷ projected mid-year population.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The base year of the current series of India's national and state accounts (GDP/GSDP at constant prices) is:

  • (a)2004-05
  • (b)2009-10
  • (c)2011-12
  • (d)2014-15

  Answer(c) 2011-12 — which is also why this question uses 2011-12 as its starting point.