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How To Prepare Economy for Civil Services Exam?

Filed Under: Economics Notes, UPSC Mains, UPSC Prelims

If aspirants preparing for UPSC Civil Services Exam are confused about one particular subject, that is Indian Economy! Candidates are doubtful about the approach and study-materials for Economics section of IAS Prelims and Mains. They keep on asking about the single, all-in-one-book to cover Economics.

Textbooks do exist, but unfortunately, as Economy section for UPSC exam is more current affairs based, no one can guarantee any text book as complete. Ideally, one should have atleast one book on Indian Economy plus the latest economic survey. Also, the latest budget should be properly analysed. Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) is a magazine which can be suggested as a good read. The best way to start is by understanding basic concepts, thinking and asking questions. We hope ClearIAS Economics Concepts (free) would be a good starting point.

Books to study Economics

Economy

ClearIAS Prelims Online Test Series
  1. Indian Economy – Ramesh Singh.
  2. Economic Survey.
  3. India Year Book.
  4. Indian Economy Since Independence – Uma Kapila.
  5. Indian Economy – Datt and Sundaram.

Additional Books to study Indian Economy for IAS Mains

  1. Indian Economy – Sanjeev Varma.
  2. Indian Economy – Mishra and Puri.
  3. Indian Economy – Performance and Policies – Uma Kapila.
  4. March of Indian Economy.

How To Prepare Economy For Civil Services Exam?

Economics preparation for UPSC can be divided into 2 steps.

  • Stage 1: Understanding the concepts – Terms like GDP, REPO, Reverse REPO, CRR, SLR, Inflation Indices, Growth, Inclusion, Development and so on. Text books do exist at this stage! 🙂
  • Stage 2: Understanding the application of the concepts – Application of the  fundamental concepts in day to day scenarios.  You have to apply here what you learned in stage one 🙁

Study Materials and Books which can help in Stage 1

As it is clear from above, the first part is building the conceptual knowledge. If you are clear with the conceptual part, learning economics will be always fun. Then there won’t be any further mugging up, but only co-relating what you have already studied in day to day scenarios. Hence it is very crucial not to get confused at the beginning stage.

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Focus on building conceptual knowledge from these resources:

  1. Economics notes which you shouldn’t miss!
  2. Indian Economy – Ramesh Singh.
  3. NCERT Texts.

Study Materials and Books which can help in Stage 2

The real battle ground of Economics is at this stage. Here your knowledge of economics is tested on practical scenarios. While most of the IAS mains exam question will be in these lines, your practical knowledge on economics can also be tested in UPSC Prelims. A sample question for Civil Services Prelims on practical lines:

Question : If rate of Inflation is high, what will be the step taken by RBI?

  • Option A : Decrease REPO
  • Option B: Increase REPO
  • Option C : Increase CRR
  • Option D : Both B and C
  • Option E : None of the above.

As it is clear, only a person with clear understanding of economic concepts would be able to answer these type of questions. Mere mugging up won’t help in this area. But at the same time, it is also important to note that to successfully write Indian economy related questions for Prelims and Mains (GS), there is no need to prepare as if you need to take Phd. in economics. What you need to understand are the problems and solutions pertaining to Indian Economy. And in that sense, you should be more focused about newspaper economics than text book economics.

More than any books, economy section of standard English newspaper (The Hindu) will be most useful in this stage. Books and magazines which can complement the economy preparation in Stage 2 is listed below.

  • Economic Survey.
  • India Year Book.
  • Indian Economy – Sanjeev Varma.
  • Economic and Political Weekly (EPW).
  • ClearIAS Economics Notes.

Indian Economy – Prelims vs Mains

Indian Economy for Prelims and Mains needs different approaches. Mains syllabus specifically mentions about some aspects of Indian Economy like issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment, Government Budgeting, cropping patterns, Public Distribution System, Technology missions, Food processing, Land reforms, Liberalization, Infrastructure and Investment models. If we examine the questions related to Indian Economy section for Prelims and Mains, the pattern and nature of questions will become more clear. Conceptual understanding of economics and Indian Economy is a must for answering most of the questions. Ability to apply the economic concept in current economic scenarios is also needed.

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About Alex Andrews George

Alex is the founder of ClearIAS.com website and the author of the best-seller book Important Judgments that transformed India. As one of the pioneers in online civil services exam coaching, his notes, strategies, guidance, and mock exams have been helping thousands of candidates clear various stages of UPSC Civil Services exam, every year.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gaurav Pingale says

    April 27, 2015 at 3:20 pm

    Sir, i am now in 2nd yr engineering and year is about to end. I am planning for UPSC preparation from 3rd year. So, please guide me the way i should start and prepare for next two years, to clear IAS in first Attempt

    Reply
  2. Vipul Jurel says

    February 7, 2016 at 12:09 pm

    Thanks ClearIAS !!! it is comprehensive and easy to understand keep up!!!

    Reply
  3. Prashant Chandra says

    March 20, 2016 at 6:44 pm

    Sir,i I am the student of graduation final year and I also an IAS aspirant so plz guide me that how I prepare for it to get success with doing best of my own talency..

    Reply
  4. Dhananjay says

    September 15, 2017 at 6:56 pm

    Indian Economy with CA Dhananjay Ojha

    This Channel is started by CA Dhananjay Ojha. Main motive of this channel is to make integrated preparation for UPSC prelims 2018 (MCQ-Indian Economy) and preparation for General studies Paper 3-( answer writing) .
    It is really helpful for UPSC aspirant.

    Click below link to join

    https://t.me/economyupsc

    Telegram
    Economy with CA Dhananjay Ojha
    This Channel is started by CA Dhananjay Ojha. Main motive of this channel is to make integrated preparation for UPSC prelims 2018 (MCQ-Indian Economy.)and preparation for General studies Paper 3-( answer writing) .
    It is really helpful for UPSC aspirant.

    Reply
  5. Mohamad Ashraf says

    May 29, 2018 at 5:10 pm

    I am studying in first-year and my aim is to qualify IAS in first attempt but I am thinking of doing IAS in economics would it be tough than doing in pol.science or history .

    Reply
  6. SACHIN S says

    February 15, 2019 at 3:15 pm

    Is its answer D

    Reply
  7. Deep says

    May 25, 2019 at 8:05 pm

    I’m Deep , studying economic honours student’s of BA 3rd year ..I’m writing this because I would like to know more details regarding about s student holding major in economics, is it possible to crack UPSC .? I have subscribed the page .. please let me know more in below email. [email protected]

    Reply

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