UPSC Economy Foundation — by Ankit Chaudhry Sir
About the instructor:
Ankit Chaudhry Sir — a dedicated UPSC mentor who has appeared for UPSC mains three times. He teaches economy from the ground up, focusing on concepts, application to current affairs, and how to translate economic understanding into crisp prelims MCQ strategies and high-scoring GS-3 answers.
Who this course is for
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Beginners who want to learn economics from scratch for UPSC (no prior background required).
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Repeaters and working professionals who need a structured, time-efficient syllabus.
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Students aiming to convert conceptual clarity into answer-writing confidence for GS-3 and accuracy for Prelims.
Course objectives
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Build rock-solid conceptual foundations in micro and macroeconomics relevant to the UPSC syllabus.
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Train students to apply economic concepts to current affairs, government schemes, budgets, and Economic Survey.
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Convert knowledge into scoreable mains answers (structure, data, examples, diagrams).
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Develop Prelims strategy for economy questions — spotting traps, eliminating options, and time management.
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Practice with PYQs (previous year questions).
Course structure
Module 1 — Basics
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What is economics? Micro vs Macro.
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Demand, supply, elasticity, consumer & producer surplus.
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Market equilibrium, price controls, market failures, public goods.
Module 2 — Macro fundamentals
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National income accounting (GDP/GNP), methods of estimation, limitations.
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Inflation: types, measurement (CPI, WPI), causes, effects.
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Unemployment: types, measurement, policy responses.
Module 3 — Money, banking & finance
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Money supply, monetary policy tools (RBI), transmission mechanism.
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Banking structure, NBFCs, financial inclusion, payment systems (UPI basics).
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Fiscal policy basics, budget components, fiscal deficit, revenue vs capital expenditure.
Module 4 — Indian economy
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Features & phases of Indian economy, sectors (agriculture, industry, services).
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Agriculture: MSP, procurement, cropping patterns, agrarian distress.
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Industry & infrastructure: MSMEs, Make in India, PPP models.
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Poverty, inequality, unemployment in India — measurement & schemes.
Module 5 — Public finance & taxation
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Taxation basics, GST structure (conceptual), direct vs indirect taxes, tax buoyancy.
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Centre-state finances, FRBM, fiscal federalism.
Module 6 — External sector & development
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Balance of payments, forex reserves, exchange rate policy, trade policy basics.
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FDI, trade agreements, India's trade profile.
Module 7 — Contemporary issues & policy
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Budget + Economic Survey reading walkthroughs (how to mine for PYQ fodder).
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Current topics: inflation shocks, growth vs environment, fintech, climate finance.
Learning materials & resources provided
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Concise module notes (PDF) + 1-page revision sheets for every topic.
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Curated reading list (official sources: Budget, Economic Survey, RBI releases) and selective reference books.
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Recorded lectures (for revision) and PYQ with explanations.
Why economics matters in UPSC — short explanation
Economics crops up every year in both Prelims and Mains (GS-3). It’s a high-utility area because:
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It intersects with policy, governance, and current affairs (Budgets, schemes, RBI policy, trade).
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Questions often reward conceptual clarity plus contemporary linkage — exactly what structured study delivers.
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Answers that cite relevant government data (Budget/Economic Survey/RBI) and use short diagrams earn high marks.
Typical UPSC question patterns (Prelims & Mains) — realistic expectations
Prelims (GS Paper I — 100 MCQs):
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Typical economy-related MCQs per year: ~10–20 questions (varies year-to-year).
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Topics that frequently appear: National income concepts, inflation/indices, RBI/monetary policy basics, fiscal indicators (fiscal deficit/debt), schemes (e.g., MGNREGA/PM-KISAN), basic trade/Balance of Payments items, simple microeconomics concepts (elasticity, price controls).
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Exam strategy: practice conceptual MCQs + keep one-liners from Economic Survey and Budget; practise elimination techniques for statement-based MCQs.
Mains — GS Paper 3 (Economy, Development, etc.; 250 marks):
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GS-3 covers a wide territory; a significant portion (often 40–70% of the economy-related content) of GS-3 is economic in nature. In a typical GS-3 paper you will see:
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2–4 direct questions focused on core economics (each may have multiple sub-parts). These can sum to ~60–100 marks depending on the paper.
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Several other questions in GS-3 that intersect with ecology, technology, or security but have economic angles.
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Exam strategy for mains: focus on structured answers (intro — body with data/diagrams — policy measures — conclusion), use recent budget/Economic Survey figures where relevant, and include balanced arguments.
Price - Rs. 1999/-
