Which body appraises public-private partnership projects of the central sector and is chaired by the Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs?

The correct answer is D, (A) is false but (R) is true. The National Infrastructure Pipeline was announced in the Budget speech of 2019-20 and the task force under the Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, drew it up for the five years from 2019-20 to 2024-25, with projected capital expenditure of about 111 lakh crore rupees. The period in the assertion, 2020-30, is therefore wrong, which rules out A and B, both of which treat the assertion as true. The reason, however, states the pipeline aim correctly: the NIP report sets out to give every citizen equitable access to world-class infrastructure, and that purpose is genuine. C is wrong because it reverses the position, calling the false assertion true and the true reason false. Read such pairs by testing the assertion first, because a false assertion settles the answer at once.

The correct answer is B, 40 per cent. The Hybrid Annuity Model was adopted to revive road construction after both the toll and the annuity models ran into trouble. The authority releases forty per cent of the bid project cost as a construction grant in instalments while the work proceeds, and the concessionaire raises the remaining sixty per cent from its own funds and from lenders. That sixty per cent is returned after completion as a series of annuities with interest linked to a bank rate, and the toll is collected by the authority itself. A, twenty per cent, is the ceiling for central viability gap funding, not the HAM grant. C, sixty per cent, is the share the concessionaire brings, so the option inverts the split. D would make it an EPC contract rather than a partnership.

The correct answer is B, 20 per cent. Viability Gap Funding is a one-time or deferred capital grant for a project that is economically necessary but commercially unviable, such as a rural road or a water supply line whose user charges can never repay the capital. The Department of Economic Affairs gives up to twenty per cent of the project cost, and the sponsoring ministry, State government or statutory authority may give a further twenty per cent, so support can reach forty per cent in total. That is why C is a tempting distractor: forty per cent is the combined ceiling, not the central share alone. A understates the scheme, and D is not available under it at all. Remember the pair of figures as twenty plus twenty.

The correct answer is B, an operating national highway stretch that already collects toll. Under TOT the authority bundles completed highway sections that have a proven traffic record and auctions the right to collect toll on them for a long concession, usually thirty years, against a single upfront payment. The money so received is used to build new roads, so TOT is a monetisation tool rather than a construction model, and the asset returns to the authority at the end. A describes a greenfield concession such as BOT or HAM, where the road has yet to be built and the traffic is only a forecast. C is a land lease, not a toll concession. D is outside the scheme, which covers national highways held by the central authority.

The correct answer is C, Engineering, Procurement and Construction. In an EPC contract the government owns the project, funds it from its own budget and simply buys construction services; the contractor is paid for the work done, keeps no operating responsibility and takes no revenue risk, so none of the defining features of a partnership is present. A, BOT on annuity, is a partnership in which the private partner builds with its own finance and is repaid in fixed instalments. B, the Hybrid Annuity Model, mixes a forty per cent construction grant with private finance for the rest. D, DBFOT, is the fullest form of concession, where the private partner designs, finances, builds, operates and finally transfers the asset. Examiners use this question to test the single idea that private finance and operation make a PPP.