About This Section
This section collects previous-year Board examination questions (CBSE and State Boards) from Chapter 4 — Globalisation and the Indian Economy — with model answers, showing how the chapter is tested.
Board Previous Year Questions
Q1. What is a multinational corporation (MNC)? How do MNCs spread their production across countries? (3 marks)
Answer: A MNC is a company that owns or controls production in more than one nation. MNCs spread production by locating each stage where it is cheapest or most useful — for example, designing in the USA, manufacturing components in China, assembling in Mexico/Eastern Europe, and running customer care from India. They also partner with, buy up, or place orders with local firms, so that production across countries becomes interlinked and their costs are minimised.
Q2. What is liberalisation? How did liberalisation help globalisation in India? (3 marks)
Answer: Liberalisation is the removal of government-set barriers or restrictions on foreign trade and investment. From around 1991, India removed most barriers so that goods could be imported and exported easily and foreign companies could set up factories and offices in the country. Businesses became free to decide what to import or export. This freer flow of goods and investment accelerated globalisation in India.
Q3. 'The impact of globalisation has not been uniform.' Explain with examples. (5 marks)
Answer: Globalisation helped some and hurt others. Winners: well-off urban consumers got greater choice, better quality and lower prices; MNCs and their suppliers invested and created jobs; and top Indian companies (Tata Motors, Infosys, Ranbaxy, Asian Paints) benefited and even became MNCs. Losers: small producers like Ravi (capacitors) were wiped out by cheaper imports, and workers like Sushila lost secure jobs to become temporary workers on low wages with no benefits. Thus globalisation's benefits were unevenly shared.
Q4. What is the World Trade Organisation? Why is it criticised by developing countries? (5 marks)
Answer: The WTO is an international organisation, started by the developed countries, whose aim is to liberalise international trade; it makes trade rules and ensures they are obeyed (about 160 members). Developing countries criticise it because, in practice, the rules are one-sided: WTO rules force developing countries to remove their barriers, while developed countries keep their own barriers and heavily subsidise their farmers. For example, subsidised US farm surplus is dumped at low prices abroad, hurting farmers there — which developing countries argue is not free and fair trade.
Q5. How can globalisation be made more fair? Explain the role of the government. (5 marks)
Answer: Fair globalisation would create opportunities for all and ensure benefits are shared better. The government has a major role: it should frame policies that protect all people, not just the rich; implement labour laws so workers get their rights; support small producers until they can compete; use trade and investment barriers when necessary; and negotiate at the WTO for fairer rules, aligning with other developing countries. Alongside government, people's campaigns can also push for fairer trade rules.