MPSC 2025 Prelims Paper-I · Question 45 of 100

Correct — option (2), statements a, c and d: Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi. As per the 2011 Census, India's urban population was about 377 million (31.16% of the total population of 1,210.19 million). The three largest urban agglomerations — Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata — were the only ones in the country with populations exceeding 10 million each, and together their combined population works out to roughly 13% of that national urban population figure. Chennai, the fourth city named in the stem (statement b), is a large urban agglomeration in its own right, but its 2011 population was well below the 10-million mark and adding it to the other three pushes the combined share past 13%, not to it — so it is the one city among the four that does not belong in the '13% of urban India' bracket the question is asking about. This is why the question isolates exactly Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi (statements a, c and d) as the trio whose combined weight matches the stated 13% figure, and excludes Chennai (statement b).

• (1)a and d — Mumbai and Delhi were indeed two of the three largest urban agglomerations in the 2011 Census, but this pair leaves out Kolkata, which was the third city in the same population tier (all three exceeded 10 million). Two cities alone do not add up to the 13% figure the question specifies — Kolkata's population has to be included to reach that combined share, so an incomplete pair understates the correct set.
• (3)a, b and d — This combination swaps in Chennai (statement b) in place of Kolkata (statement c). Chennai was a large city in the 2011 Census but its population was well below the more-than-10-million tier that Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata occupied, so replacing Kolkata with Chennai changes the combined population total and no longer matches the 13%-of-urban-India figure the question is built around.
• (4)a, b and c — This combination includes Chennai (statement b) alongside Mumbai (a) and Kolkata (c) but drops Delhi (d) — one of the country's largest urban agglomerations in 2011. Excluding Delhi while including the smaller Chennai changes the combined population total, so this trio does not match the 13% figure either.

The 2011 Census recorded India's urban population at about 377.1 million, or 31.16% of the total population of 1,210.19 million. Within that urban population, a small number of very large urban agglomerations account for a disproportionate share of the total — the Census identified 53 urban agglomerations with a population of one million or more ('million-plus cities'), and these together held a substantial fraction of the entire urban population despite occupying a tiny fraction of India's land area. At the very top of that hierarchy sat three urban agglomerations that had crossed the ten-million mark by 2011: Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. Because these three were so much larger than every other Indian city, their combined population alone made up a notable share — around 13% — of the country's total urban population, illustrating how concentrated India's urbanisation is at the very top of the city-size distribution.

MPSC's demography questions often test precise recall of Census figures at the city level, and this question is designed to separate candidates who know only that 'India has some very large cities' from those who know which specific cities crossed the ten-million threshold in 2011. Chennai is a natural distractor because it genuinely belongs to India's top tier of large cities, but it had not reached the same population scale as Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata by 2011 — so a careful reading of exact city-tier rankings, not just general city-size intuition, is what the question rewards.

• As per the 2011 Census, India's urban population was about 377.1 million, or 31.16% of the total population of 1,210.19 million.
• The 2011 Census identified 53 urban agglomerations with a population of one million or more ('million-plus cities').
• Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata were the only three Indian urban agglomerations to exceed 10 million population in the 2011 Census, and their combined population accounted for roughly 13% of the country's total urban population.
• Chennai, while a major million-plus city, had a considerably smaller population than Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata in 2011 and does not belong in the same top population tier.

• Assuming any well-known large Indian city (like Chennai) must be part of the very top population tier without checking exact figures
• Confusing the number of million-plus cities (53) with the much smaller set of cities that exceeded 10 million population
• Treating '13% of urban population' as a round approximation for 'India's largest cities' generally, rather than a specific figure tied to exactly three named cities

MPSC's census and demography questions often ask which specific set of cities matches a precise population-share figure, testing memorised city-tier rankings rather than general awareness of India's largest cities — Chennai versus Kolkata is a recurring pairing used to test this precision.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  As per the 2011 Census, which three Indian urban agglomerations were the only ones to exceed a population of 10 million each ?

  • (a)Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai
  • (b)Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata
  • (c)Delhi, Kolkata and Bengaluru
  • (d)Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata

  Answer(b) Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata — these three were the only Indian urban agglomerations to cross the 10-million population mark as per the 2011 Census, together accounting for roughly 13% of the country's total urban population.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  As per the 2011 Census, approximately what percentage of India's total population lived in urban areas ?

  • (a)17.5%
  • (b)25.1%
  • (c)31.16%
  • (d)42.6%

  Answer(c) 31.16% — the 2011 Census recorded India's urban population at about 377.1 million out of a total population of 1,210.19 million, working out to 31.16%.