AIR 11 · CSE 2023 · GS3 · 51 pages

Kush Motwani: GS3 answer copy

20 answers by Kush Motwani, as written in the test. Each question opens a page with how other toppers answered it.

The questions

The answers

Question 1 · 10 marks · 316 words written

Elaborate on the difference between Capital Account and Current Account as components of Balance of Payment (BOP). Suggest a few measures to balance the BOP deficit of India.

Opening · a definition

Balance of Payment (BOP) is a systematic account of transactions between the residents and non-residents of a country in a given time period (usually 1 year).

Current AccountCapital Account
1. Components:
→ Visible: [Merchandise trade]
→ Invisible:
    → [Services trade]
    → [Primary income (wages, profit)]
    → [Secondary income (remittances, etc)]1. Components:
→ FDI, FII
→ External borrowing → [sovereign, ECB]
→ FCNR accounts (non-resident accounts).
2. Usually negative for India, (i.e [Current Account deficit] (except in [FY20-21]))Usually positive for India, (i.e [capital account surplus])
3. Reflects: net (income + trade)Reflects: net (investment + borrowing)
4. Related to short term transactions (Eg: salary/trade)Related to long term transactions (eg: investments)
5. Broadly relates to non-capital generating/revenue transactionscapital generating transactions

To Balance BOP deficit:

(I) : Encourage exports :

Body · points and prose

  1. Invest in logistics and infra ↓ Bring down [logistics cost] (14% of GDP) ↓ make exports more competitive
  2. Reform SEZ policy - as ace to [Baba kalyani recommendation]
  3. Focus on exporting MSME products (Eg): GI tags - [marketing] ["Invaluable treasures of Incredible India"] (Eg): Help MSMEs in resolving SPS issues
  4. Sign FTAs (Free Trade Agreements)
  5. Focus on getting integrated into [GVCs and GSCs] (Global value chains) (Via) PLI scheme, Make in India
  6. Focus on [sunrise sectors] (for India) (Eg): new tech, defence, toys, pharma, etc

(II) : Decrease imports

  1. Faster transition to renewables → reduce coal, crude imports
  2. NITI Aayog - [improve resource efficiency] (Eg): [$1 billion] worth of gold from e-waste annually
  3. (Eg): vehicle scrappage
  4. Hydrocarbon exploration in India, Lithium mining, etc

Close · a summary

(III) : [Attracting investments] : FDI policy, Ease of Doing Business, etc.

These steps will surely bring down BOP deficit.