SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 13 September 2024, Shift 2 · General Awareness · Question 1 of 99

Text as printed on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; answer per SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 10 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. The questions and options here are reproduced as printed on a candidate's own response sheet for this shift — the Commission's text, unchanged. Each answer is SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet; SSC allowed challenges to it and never publishes a final key. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Presently, which of the following countries is NOT a beneficiary of India's Duty-Free Tariff Preference (DFTP) Scheme?

(a)Rwanda
(b)Burundi
(c)Myanmar
(d)Angola

Answer

Why

Correct — D. India's Duty-Free Tariff Preference (DFTP) Scheme is offered to Least Developed Countries, but membership is opt-in.

An LDC joins only after sending India a letter of intent, together with the seals and signatures of the officials who will issue its certificates of origin.

Rwanda did that in 2008, Myanmar in 2009 and Burundi in 2010, and all three sit on India's beneficiary list.

Angola does not, so it is the country outside the scheme.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Rwanda — Rwanda is a UN-designated Least Developed Country and a DFTP beneficiary, so it cannot be the exception the stem is hunting for.
(b)
Burundi — Burundi is likewise an LDC and receives DFTP preference on its exports to India, which rules it out.
(c)
Myanmar — Myanmar is India's LDC neighbour to the east and is covered by the scheme, so it is not the odd one out here.

Concept

The DFTP Scheme is India's unilateral trade preference for the world's poorest economies. Goods from Least Developed Countries enter India at zero or reduced duty, and India asks for nothing in return.

India announced the scheme in 2008 and later widened its product coverage.

Being an LDC only makes a country eligible. Joining is a separate step the country has to take, which is why India's beneficiary list is shorter than the UN's LDC list — and why not a beneficiary does not mean not an LDC.

The stem's Presently points at India's beneficiary list, which is a live document rather than a fixed schedule: countries are added as they apply.

Key facts

The DFTP Scheme gives Least Developed Countries duty-free or preferential access to India's market on a non-reciprocal basis.
India announced the DFTP Scheme in 2008.
Rwanda joined India's DFTP beneficiary list in 2008, Myanmar in 2009 and Burundi in 2010.
Angola is still a UN-designated Least Developed Country, so what rules it out here is the absence of a DFTP beneficiary arrangement, not its development status.

Study next

The UN criteria for classifying and graduating Least Developed CountriesIndia's preferential trade arrangements with African economiesHow a unilateral preference scheme differs from a free trade agreement

Common traps

Picking the poorest-sounding country instead of checking India's beneficiary list.
Assuming every Least Developed Country is automatically a DFTP beneficiary — Angola is an LDC and still is not one.

SSC has asked this scheme by its launch year as well — also asked 11 Sep 2024, 09:00, General Awareness Q.12, where the key is 2008. Expect either the year or the beneficiary group.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.