SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 12 September 2025, Shift 1 · General Awareness · Question 21 of 100

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 11 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Which of the following correctly describes cooperative sector industries?

(a)Owned and operated by central government agencies.
(b)Operated solely for export purposes.
(c)Owned by workers or suppliers sharing profits and losses
(d)Maintained by foreign companies with Indian partnerships.

Answer

Why

Correct — C. NCERT's Class 10 geography classifies industries by ownership into public, private, joint and cooperative sectors.

Cooperative sector industries are "owned and operated by the producers or suppliers of raw materials, workers or both". They pool resources and share profits or losses proportionately.

NCERT's examples are the sugar industry in Maharashtra and the coir industry in Kerala.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Owned and operated by central government agencies. — That is NCERT's public sector: "owned and operated by government agencies", such as BHEL and SAIL. A cooperative is owned by producers or workers, not by the State.
(b)
Operated solely for export purposes. — Export orientation is not an ownership category. NCERT's ownership classes are public, private, joint and cooperative, and none is defined by where the output is sold.
(d)
Maintained by foreign companies with Indian partnerships. — Foreign companies are not one of NCERT's ownership classes. Its joint sector means the State and private individuals together, as in Oil India Ltd, not foreign firms with Indian partners.

Concept

NCERT classifies industries in several ways: by raw material (agro-based, mineral-based), by main role (basic, consumer), by capital investment, by ownership, and by the bulk of inputs and outputs (heavy, light).

The ownership classes are public (government agencies), private (individuals or groups), joint (State and private together) and cooperative (producers, suppliers of raw material, or workers).

A cooperative's members supply the sugarcane, the coconut husk or the labour and own the unit together, so they share profit or loss proportionately.

Key facts

NCERT defines cooperative sector industries as owned and operated by the producers or suppliers of raw materials, workers or both.
NCERT's cooperative examples are the sugar industry in Maharashtra and the coir industry in Kerala.
NCERT's public sector examples are BHEL and SAIL, and its joint sector example is Oil India Ltd.
NCERT's private sector examples are TISCO, Bajaj Auto Ltd and Dabur Industries.

Study next

Article 43 and the promotion of cottage industries on a co-operative basisThe 97th Amendment, 2011 and Part IXB on co-operative societiesAgro-based versus mineral-based industries

Common traps

Choosing (a) because cooperatives receive government support — support is not ownership.
Confusing the joint sector (State plus private) with the cooperative sector (producers or workers).

Ownership classes are also asked by example: a public sector industry at 12 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q.11 and 13 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q.4 (BHEL both times), and a joint sector one at 19 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q.6.

The cooperative idea reaches the Constitution at 19 Sep 2024, 16:00, GA Q.12 (Article 43).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Economic Scene — all 75 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.