Match List-I with List-II and choose the correct answer using the codes given below the lists : List-I (State) A. Maharashtra B. Uttar Pradesh C. Tamil Nadu D. Karnataka List-II (Rank according to expenditure on infrastructure 2019 – 23) 1. First 2. Second 3. Third 4. Fourth Codes :
- (a)A-1, B-2, C-3, D-4
- (b)A-2, B-1, C-3, D-4
- (c)A-4, B-1, C-2, D-3
- (d)A-2, B-3, C-1, D-4
Correct — B, A-2, B-1, C-3, D-4. On the figures the examiner is using, Uttar Pradesh spent the most on infrastructure over the five years to 2022-23 — about Rs 5.31 lakh crore — followed by Maharashtra at about Rs 4.39 lakh crore, Tamil Nadu at about Rs 2.84 lakh crore and Karnataka at about Rs 2.76 lakh crore. Reading that against List-I gives Maharashtra second, Uttar Pradesh first, Tamil Nadu third and Karnataka fourth, which is option (b). Be clear about where this ranking comes from, because it changes how you should use it. There is no official Government of India index that ranks States by 'expenditure on infrastructure'. The 2019-23 table is an analysis of the States' own budget documents — their capital expenditure over five financial years — compiled and published in the press in December 2023 (Business Today), and echoed in reporting on State finances. Treat it as a sourced journalistic compilation of budget data, not as a government ranking, and expect the exact rupee figures to move a little depending on whose compilation you read and on whether budget estimates, revised estimates or actuals are used. What is not in doubt, and what the question is really rewarding, is the headline order: Uttar Pradesh ahead of Maharashtra. That result surprises candidates because Maharashtra has the larger economy, but Uttar Pradesh is the most populous State with the largest infrastructure deficit to close, and through this period it was running an unusually capital-heavy budget — expressways built by the State's own expressway authority, new airports, metro projects, canal and rural-road work. Size of economy and size of capital budget are different things, and that is the lesson of the item.
- (a)A-1, B-2, C-3, D-4 — The intended trap, and doubly attractive: it matches List-I to List-II straight down the page, and it puts Maharashtra first, which fits the common assumption that India's largest State economy must also be its largest infrastructure spender. On the figures used here it is the top two that are inverted — Uttar Pradesh's roughly Rs 5.31 lakh crore is ahead of Maharashtra's roughly Rs 4.39 lakh crore. Tamil Nadu third and Karnataka fourth are right in this option; only the first two places are wrong.
- (c)A-4, B-1, C-2, D-3 — Gets the headline right — Uttar Pradesh first — and then scrambles everything below it, pushing Maharashtra all the way down to fourth and promoting Tamil Nadu to second and Karnataka to third. Maharashtra's capital spending over this period was well above Tamil Nadu's and Karnataka's, which are close to each other at roughly Rs 2.84 and Rs 2.76 lakh crore. This is the option for a candidate who has heard the UP headline but has not seen the rest of the table.
- (d)A-2, B-3, C-1, D-4 — Puts Tamil Nadu first and Uttar Pradesh only third. Tamil Nadu is a strong performer on infrastructure quality and on industrial investment, but on the size of the five-year capital spend it is a clear third among these four, at roughly half the Uttar Pradesh figure. The option keeps Maharashtra second and Karnataka fourth, which happen to be correct, so a candidate who checks only the two ends of the list can be caught by it.
'Expenditure on infrastructure' by a State means, in practice, capital expenditure in the State budget — money spent creating durable assets such as roads, expressways, bridges, canals, power lines, metro and airport works, as opposed to revenue expenditure on salaries, pensions, interest and subsidies. How much a State can spend this way is set by three things: its own tax revenue and share of central taxes, transfers and centrally sponsored scheme funds, and its borrowing headroom — the Centre allows States a fiscal deficit of up to 3.5 per cent of Gross State Domestic Product, part of it conditional on power-sector reforms, and has additionally offered fifty-year interest-free loans to States earmarked for capital investment. A State with a large population, a low base of existing assets and political priority attached to visible construction can therefore out-spend a richer State.
Two habits answer this item. First, in any match-the-list question, distrust the option that pairs the lists in printed order — here that is (a), and it is wrong. Second, separate 'largest economy' from 'largest capital budget'. Maharashtra has the biggest GSDP in India, but much of its infrastructure is built by parastatals, municipal bodies and private concessionaires rather than out of the State's own capital budget, while Uttar Pradesh has been routing very large sums through its own budget. On the exam floor, if you recall only the single fact that Uttar Pradesh topped this table, you can eliminate (a) and (d) immediately and are left choosing between (b) and (c) on the placement of Maharashtra — and Maharashtra at fourth, below Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, is implausible. Finally, note the sourcing caution in the explanation: this is a press compilation of budget data, so learn the ORDER, not the decimal places.
- Infrastructure (capital) spending by States over the five years FY2019 to FY2023, on the compilation the examiner used: Uttar Pradesh about Rs 5.31 lakh crore (first), Maharashtra about Rs 4.39 lakh crore (second), Tamil Nadu about Rs 2.84 lakh crore (third), Karnataka about Rs 2.76 lakh crore (fourth).
- Attribution matters here: these figures come from an analysis of State budget capital expenditure published in December 2023 (Business Today), not from an official Government of India ranking or index of State infrastructure spending. No such official index exists.
- Capital expenditure creates assets (roads, bridges, canals, buildings, equipment); revenue expenditure covers salaries, pensions, interest and subsidies. Only the former is what 'infrastructure spending' in a State budget normally means.
- States' capacity to spend on capital works is capped by their borrowing limit — a fiscal deficit of up to 3.5 per cent of GSDP, a portion of it tied to power-sector reforms — and supplemented by the Centre's scheme of fifty-year interest-free loans for capital investment.
- Uttar Pradesh's position at the top is a size-and-priority result rather than a wealth result: it is India's most populous State with the largest absolute infrastructure gap, and it ran a capital-heavy budget through this period on expressways, airports, metro and rural connectivity.
- Assuming the richest State spends the most on infrastructure. Maharashtra has the largest GSDP but was second on this five-year capital-spending table, behind Uttar Pradesh.
- Choosing the option that matches List-I and List-II in their printed order. In this question that is (a), and it is wrong.
- Quoting the rupee figures as if they were an official statistic. They come from a press analysis of State budget documents, and compilations differ depending on whether budget estimates, revised estimates or actuals are used.
UPPSC likes State-ranking match-the-list items with a stated period — infrastructure spend, per capita income, foodgrain output — and a UP-first answer is common enough that it is worth checking whether Uttar Pradesh tops the table before anything else. UPSC does not ask State rankings; it asks the underlying fiscal concepts, such as what counts as capital expenditure.
With reference to the expenditure made by an organisation or a company, which of the following statements is/are correct? 1. Acquiring new technology is capital expenditure. 2. Debt financing is considered capital expenditure, while equity financing is considered revenue expenditure. Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) Both 1 and 2
- (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer(a) 1 only
Tests the concept this ranking is built on — what counts as capital expenditure (acquiring an asset) as against how the money is raised. Every 'expenditure on infrastructure' table is a capital-expenditure table underneath.
Which statement is true for Finance Sector (Fiscal Management) in the Union Budget-2023?
- (a) Budget estimates 2023-24 for total expenditure is ₹ 55 lakh Cr.
- (b) Fiscal Deficit 2025-26, the target is to be below 5.5%.
- (c) Fiscal Deficit of 3.5% of GSDP allowed for states.
- (d) Twenty years interest free loans to states.
Answer(c) Fiscal Deficit of 3.5% of GSDP allowed for states.
Supplies the constraint that decides how much a State can spend on infrastructure at all — the Centre allows States a fiscal deficit of up to 3.5 per cent of GSDP, part of it tied to power-sector reforms, which is the borrowing headroom behind the capital budgets ranked here.
Given below are two statements, one is labelled as Assertion (A) and other as Reason (R): Assertion (A): Government has launched the 'National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP)' for period of 2020-30. Reason (R): The objective of NIP is to provide equitable access to infrastructure for all. Select the correct answer using the codes given below. Codes:
- (a) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A)
- (b) Both (A) and (R) are true but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A)
- (c) (A) is true but (R) is false
- (d) (A) is false but (R) is true
Answer(d) (A) is false but (R) is true
The national frame around State capital spending — the National Infrastructure Pipeline, its actual period (2019-20 to 2024-25, not 2020-30) and its equitable-access objective, which is the window in which this 2019-23 spending happened.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following items in a State Government budget would be classified as capital expenditure?
- (a)Interest paid on outstanding State development loans
- (b)Construction of a new State highway
- (c)Salaries of State government school teachers
- (d)Old-age pension payments
Answer(b) Construction of a new State highway — capital expenditure creates a durable asset, whereas interest payments, salaries and pensions are recurring revenue expenditure.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Union Government's 'Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment' provides assistance to States in which form?
- (a)Outright grants with no repayment obligation
- (b)Fifty-year interest-free loans earmarked for capital projects
- (c)Equity participation in State public sector undertakings
- (d)Guarantees for borrowings from multilateral agencies
Answer(b) Fifty-year interest-free loans earmarked for capital projects — the scheme lends to States for a fifty-year term without interest, on condition the money is used for capital investment, and it sits outside the States' normal borrowing ceiling.