How to prepare Economy?

Exam Microeconomics Macroeconomics Indian Economy

UPSC /CSAT barely 1-2 MCQs yes yes from British raj till current era.
IBPS/Banking no
monetary policy
related
banking sector related (from
evolution in British raj to post-
independence-till now)
SSC/Staff selection barely yes Mostly current affairs- PIN/GK type.
IIM interviews yes yes
Mainly corporate sector related
current & contemporary.
CAPF (Assistant
commandant)
barely yes Mostly current.
CDS
yes, quite a few
MCQs from here
only overview only overview
State service PSC depends few Current affairs/PIN/GK type.
Prep. Sources for UPSC
The new syllabus of Mains exam is designed in such way that youll encounter economy in
GS1, GS2 and GS3 directly and indirectly. Therefore good command over
economy=essential for writing high quality answers- even essays and interviews.
Free Downloads / Textbooks
1. NCERT Textbooks (Free Download available under Mrunal.org/download)
2. If youve time you may also consult NIOS textbooks. else ignore
Books to refer:
.
1. Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh (Tata Macgrawhill publication)
2. Indian Polity by M.Laxmikanth: meant for Indian Constitution topic, but also important for
preparing budget making, CAG, parliamentary Committees, central-state taxes and other
issues related to Indian economy.
3. India Yearbook 2014: for government schemes, Ministries and departments.
4. Bipin Chandra: Indias struggle for independence: Meant for the History preparation but also
required for understanding economy during British Raj. (Mains GS1)
5. Bipin Chandra: India since independence: meant for Post-Indepdence topic for Mains GS1
topic. But also helps in Land reforms, cooperative movement, bank nationalization, five year
planning related topics of Indian Economy.
Other sources:
SOURCE INDIAN ECONOMY
pib.nic.in for government scheme, planning related
Mrunal.org/economy yes
12
th
FYP report PDF overview given @end of each chapter
Hindu/Indianexpress Must maintain daily notes.
Economy Survey
Budget
summaries given in Mrunal.org
Rail budget
Hardly useful. just get an overview of MCQ worthy info. dont waste more
time in doing Ph.D.
Competitive
magazines
Just to update your notes, in case you missed any important development
from newspapers. dont use magazine as primary source for economy
preparation.
frontline, EPW helps in descriptive, essay and interview. Should be read from library.
Yojana Magazine Deals with government schemes and planning related issues.
Kurukshetra
deals mainly with Rural development. Important for Public Administration.
But for general studies- depends on your time and mood.
Not required/useless/bogus
1. Dutt Sundaram, Mishra Puri, Uma Kapila = these are all academic books. For general
studies/competitive exams you dont need to prepare that deep. so, Dont waste time in
them. Certain (coaching) sites from 90s era still mention these as reference sources. My
advice: Avoid.
2. Economics Times, Financial Express, Business line etc.= In certain doctored (fake) topper
interviews published in certain magazines, the topper would claim I read all these
newspapers every day for preparing economy. This is overkill, humanly impossible. At most
one newspaper is sufficient. For competitive exam you dont need to prepare that deep from
three-four different newspapers. However, if a topic is really important (such as GST/DTC
related development) then you may use google to dig more from those newspapers. But
dont waste time reading three newspapers per day.
3. Coaching material/Postal material: Most of them just bullet the paragraphs given in Hindu
and sell it as Current affairs compilation. Waste of time and money.
Approach: Microeconomics
Only do selective study from NCERT Class 11 Microeconomics, as following.
1. Elasticity of demands (ch2) + Giffen goods (internet)
2. Law of diminishing marginal product (ch 3.4)
3. Perfect competition (ch4.1): only features.
4. Non-competitive markets: (ch.6)
a. features given @intro
b. Monopolistic competition (ch.6.2.1)
c. Oligopolistic competition (ch 6.2.2)
5. Price ceiling and Price floors (ch5.2): only basic definition
6. Glossary: only MCQ worthy definitions.
Approach: Macroeconomics + Indian Economy
GDP GNP Growth Basics
NCERT Class 12 Macroeconomics After NCERT
Ch. 2 National Income Accounting
Circular flow of income.
How to calculate national
income (ignore minute
details/fomulas)
GDP, GNP, NNP, deflator and
their formulas.
Ramesh: Ch1. subtopic ideas of national income
Ch2 GDP vs Welfare topic (given at
the end of this chapter)
1. RAMESH: Ch 2 growth and development.
2. Human Development index: Theory + current
(Mrunal under Economic Survey ch. 13
summary) + Schemes.
3. Then newspaper + Yojana/Kuru +Magazines
=>pib.nic.in
Money Banking Finance
NCERT Class 12
Macroeconomics
After NCERT
Ch. 3 Money & Banking:
Supply of money, Functions
of RBI
Ramesh
12 Banking
11. Financial market => 14 Securities Market (Stock
exchange, FII, QFI etc.)
13 Insurance
Current:
Economic Survey ch5 (FI)
Legal angle: CSR, company law, SEBI powers
Committees: Mayaram FDI-FII, Bimal Bank License,
Nachiket Fin. Services, PJ Nayak Governance in Bank
boards. list goes on.
Scam like: Bitcoin, Ponzi Scheme, NSEL, SEBI-
SAHARA, Money laundering
Growth/Inclusion Angle
Foreign Investment/ Foreign Trade
NCERT Class 12 Macroeconomics After NCERT
NCERT 12/macro/ch.6
Balance of Payment, Foreign
Exchange
Ramesh
Ch15: External Sector
Ch16: IMF, World banks, OECD, ADB
Gold standard, Bretton woods.
ignore Formulas and Charts. only
one formula important: National
income: Y=C+I+G+X-M
+prepare all the terms in Glossary.
and other intl.org (even for Mains)
Current (focus on these news)
1. CAD high, Rupee weak (Govt+RBI)
2. Bilateral investment
1. India 2015 Ch. on Commerce.
(for Mains.)
2. Visits and agreements. (make
notes)
3. WTO: current (Bali summit, agro
subsidy)
4. Infra, Food processing related (GSM3)
Taxation/ Fiscal policy
NCERT Class 12 Macroeconomics
Chapter 5
Revenue and capital account
Measures of deficit
Changes in Expenditure : ignore graph and formulas
Debt, deficit
After NCERT
.
Laxmiankths book on Indian Polity. also available in Hindi
Ch. on parliament=>budget making, chapters on Central state relations, federalism and CAG.
Ramesh Singh :
Ch. 18 Public finance.
Ch.17 Taxation
Lastly, GSM (MCQ)
(optional) Laxmikanths book on Pub.Ad:
Chapter on Financial Administration,
Union Government in India (PSU)
Approach: Indian Economy (for UPSC)
For Indian Economy- the approach must be prelim cum mains. (Prelim-oriented jugaad
preparation doesnt work anymore- because UPSC professors designing tough MCQs to
break the backs of coaching classes and senior players.) Anyways you should approach the
basic of Indian Economy following sequence:
#1: Background + British Raj/Pre-independence
NCERT 12: Fundamental of Human Geo.
1. Unit III (ch.5 to 9): sectors of economy
Colonialism, Imperialism, industrial revo.
1. NCERT (old) class 10, first chapter (Mrunal.org/history)
2. Bipin Chandra (Ch7) Economic Critique
3. NCERT class11 (economy) Chapter 1
#2: Agriculture/land reforms

NCERT (economy) class11 Chapter #2:
1. Planning topic ==>Ramesh 4 and 5
2. Land reforms topic => India Yearbook for schemes (rural development).
a. To prepare land reforms for Mains, go through
i. Mrunal.org/polity
ii. Bipin Chandra: India Since Independence (ch.29 to 31)
3. Green revolution
a. NCERT geography books for more on Indian agriculture, cropping patterns,
soil types.
b. India Yearbook 2014: MSP, NAFED etc from agriculture chapter
c. Ramesh Singh Ch.8.
d. Mains: Food processing- Ive written whole article series [Food processing],
links given above.
e. Mains: Bipin Chandra: India Since Independencech33
+ Maintain notes from Yojana, newspapers, PIB etc. for issues related to land reforms,
subsidies, rural development and planning.
#3: Rural development
NCERT class11: Ch.6 Rural development
o Rural banking=>RRB, financial inclusion (Mrunals articles)
o Agri.marketing=> Food processing (Mains) (Mrunals articles)
o Organic farming & its benefits.
Eco.Survey ch8 (agri. Food Management)
IYB chapter (Agri, rural urban Development)
#4: Industrial development
NCERT (economy) class11
o Chapter 2: Industrial policy resolution, Import substitution, Permission raj
o Chapter 3: LPG
Ramesh Singh
o Ch.6 (Economic Reforms)
o Ch7 Inflation. (+newspaper)
o ch9 (Indian industry and infra.) licensing, policy, disinvestment
Budget + Economic survey + IYB
Mains: Bipin PI Ch.25-28
#5: Infrastructure
1. NCERT class11: Ch.7 infrastructure
a. Energy=> renewable/non sources (GSM1); infra. (GSM3). For geography
angle, refer to Majid Hussian or DR Khullar.
b. Health infra.=> MDG, Public health, Schemes (GSM2 social sector schemes)-
given on Mrunal.org/snt
2. Ramesh Ch 9 and ch.22
3. Economic Survey ch. 9, 10 and 11
For Mains: 12
th
FYP plans points/recommendations for infrastructure.
#6: Poverty, Human resources
NCERT class11:
a. Ch4 Poverty: poverty line, Causes of poverty
b. Ch5 human capital formation
c. Ch7 Employment
Prelim cum mains (GS1 and GS3)
a. Ramesh: ch.21 Demographic dividend, Ch. 22 human development
b. Eco. Survey ch.2 and ch.13
c. Census 2011, skill Development (Yoj/Kur/12th FYP/Schemes)
#6: Sustainable development / Desi liquor
1. NCERT class11: 9
a. Carrying capacity, ozone depletion etc. basic
b. for biodiversity /environment angle: additionally prepare NCERT
sci/geography, NIOS
2. Ramesh Ch.20
3. RIO+20 (Mrunal.org/enb) This summit is old topic but gives decent fodder points for
essay/interview.
4. Economic Survey ch. 12
Once this is done, you may go through remaining chapters of NCERT/Ramesh as per your
time/mood.