SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 17 September 2024, Shift 1 · General Awareness · Question 6 of 98

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 6 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.

Which of the following is an example of private sector industry in India?

(a)Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited
(b)Oil India Limited
(c)Tata Iron and Steel Company
(d)Steel Authority of India Limited

Answer

Why

Correct — C. Tata Iron and Steel Company is owned and run by private shareholders, which is exactly what 'private sector' means.

The remaining three names are central public sector undertakings, majority-owned by the Government of India.

Classification here turns on ownership, not on what the firm produces or how large it is.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited — Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited is a central public sector undertaking in heavy electrical equipment, majority-owned by the Government of India.
(b)
Oil India Limited — Oil India Limited is a government-owned oil and gas PSU under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
(d)
Steel Authority of India Limited — Steel Authority of India Limited is the government-owned steel producer. It makes the same product as Tata Steel, which is precisely why the two are offered together.

Concept

An industry is classified by who owns it, not by what it makes.

Public sector: government owns and controls it, whether a central PSU such as BHEL or a state undertaking.
Private sector: individuals or companies own it, as with Tata, Reliance or Dabur.
Joint sector: government and private capital together.

Steel appears on both sides of that line, SAIL public and Tata Steel private, so the industry alone never decides the answer.

TISCO, which runs the Jamshedpur steel works, now trades as Tata Steel. SSC prints the older name, so recognise both.

Key facts

Tata Iron and Steel Company is a private-sector enterprise, now known as Tata Steel.
BHEL, SAIL and Oil India Limited are all central public sector undertakings.
Public and private sector classification turns on ownership, not on the product made.
SAIL and Tata Steel operate in the same industry on opposite sides of that classification.

Study next

Public sector undertakings and the Maharatna, Navratna and Miniratna classificationDisinvestment policy and the government's shareholding in central PSUsPrimary, secondary and tertiary classification of economic activity

Common traps

Both a public and a private giant make steel, so the product does not settle the answer.
Reading 'Bharat' or 'India' in a company name as proof of government ownership fails on private firms carrying the same words.

SSC runs this item in the opposite direction as well, from the same pool of names.

The public-sector member is asked on 12 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q.11 and again on 13 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q.4, and BHEL is the key both times.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.