📘 Q.11 IAS Prelims 2024 — Economics (Sectors of Indian Economy)

🧷 Authentic Classroom Explanation by IAS Monk


📌 The Question:

With reference to the sectors of the Indian economy, consider the following pairs:

Economic ActivitySector
1. Storage of agricultural produceSecondary
2. Dairy farmPrimary
3. Mineral explorationTertiary
4. Weaving clothSecondary

How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?

(a) Only one
(b) Only two
(c) Only three
(d) All four

Correct Answer: (c) Only three


🧠 Curiosity Raiser

Why does UPSC confuse storage, exploration, and processing across sectors?

👉 Because sector classification depends on the nature of activity, not on where it happens or how modern it looks.


📘 Enrichment Notes (Concept Precision)

🔹 Understanding the Three Sectors (UPSC Lens)

🟢 Primary Sector

  • Directly exploits natural resources
  • Examples:
    • Agriculture
    • Dairy farming
    • Fishing
    • Mining (extraction)

Pair 2: Dairy farm — Correctly matched


🟠 Secondary Sector

  • Converts raw materials into finished or semi-finished goods
  • Manufacturing & processing
  • Examples:
    • Spinning
    • Weaving
    • Factories

Pair 4: Weaving cloth — Correctly matched


🔵 Tertiary Sector

  • Service-based activities
  • Supports Primary & Secondary sectors
  • Examples:
    • Transport
    • Storage
    • Banking
    • Trade
    • Consultancy
    • Technical services

Pair 1: Storage of agricultural produce — Incorrectly matched
📌 Storage is a service, hence tertiary, not secondary.

Pair 3: Mineral exploration — Correctly matched
📌 Important UPSC nuance:

  • Mining → Primary
  • Mineral exploration → knowledge-intensive, survey, consultancy → Tertiary

🧩 Final Tally

PairStatus
1❌ Incorrect
2✅ Correct
3✅ Correct
4✅ Correct

➡️ Correct pairs = 3


🧘‍♂️ IAS Monk Whisper

What extracts is primary, what transforms is secondary, what supports is tertiary.

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