In the Index of Eight Core Industries, which one of the following is given the highest weight?

The answer is B) Electricity generation. The Index of Eight Core Industries, compiled by the Office of the Economic Adviser under DPIIT, tracks eight sectors: refinery products, electricity, steel, coal, crude oil, natural gas, cement and fertilizers. Each gets a weight in the overall index, and electricity carries the largest weight among the four options here, at about 19.85 per cent in the current 2011-12 base.

• Electricity generation (B): correct, with the highest weight among the options.
• Coal production (A): weight about 10.33 per cent, roughly half of electricity's.
• Steel production (D): weight about 17.92 per cent, second among the options but still below electricity.
• Fertilizer production (C): weight about 2.63 per cent, the lowest of the eight.

The core concept is that the index is a production-weighted measure, so sectors with larger output and infrastructure weight pull the headline growth number harder. For Mains, this links to the IIP and to debates on how far core sector growth signals overall industrial momentum.

Trap: aspirants pick steel or coal because they seem like the 'big' industries, or they confuse the highest-weighted sector overall (refinery products) with the highest among the options given.