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Question

Difficulty: HardInference and Logical Deduction

Read the following passage carefully:

'Under the Municipal Water Security Directive of 2026, urban local bodies (ULBs) exceeding a population threshold of 500,000 are mandated to recycle at least 40% of their domestic wastewater for non-potable industrial use by December 2027. Cities that achieve this benchmark within the stipulated timeframe receive an additional 15% grant allocation from the Central Urban Infrastructure Fund. However, the directive stipulates that any ULB that relies on third-party private concessionaires for wastewater treatment plant construction must undergo a bi-annual audit by the State Environmental Pollution Control Board. Furthermore, the directive prohibits ULBs from raising municipal water tariffs on residential consumers to finance these recycling facilities unless the city’s un-metered household water connections fall below 10% of total residential supply.'

Which of the following inferences logically follow strictly from the passage? (Select ALL correct statements)

  1. An urban local body with a population of 600,000 that has 15% un-metered residential water connections cannot legally raise residential water tariffs to finance its wastewater recycling facilities under this directive.Answer
  2. Qualifying for the additional 15% grant allocation from the Central Urban Infrastructure Fund requires a city exceeding 500,000 in population to meet the 40% wastewater recycling target no later than December 2027.Answer
  3. C
    Industrial facilities operating within municipalities covered by the directive will see a guaranteed reduction in their operational water procurement expenses.
  4. D
    Urban local bodies with populations below 500,000 are explicitly prohibited from receiving any grants from the Central Urban Infrastructure Fund.

Answer

The correct statements are that an urban local body with 15% un-metered connections cannot raise residential tariffs to finance recycling facilities, and that receiving the additional 15% grant requires hitting the 40% recycling target by December 2027.
The inference regarding tariff restrictions logically follows because the text sets a mandatory ceiling of under 10% un-metered connections for tariff raises; 15% exceeds this limit. The inference regarding grant qualification also logically follows because the text explicitly ties the 15% grant allocation to achieving the 40% recycling target within the December 2027 deadline.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the condition for residential water tariff increases.
The directive permits tariff hikes ONLY IF un-metered connections fall below 10%. A city with 15% un-metered connections fails this criterion, making tariff hikes prohibited.
Applying standard formal logic (if not P, then not Q) directly to the explicit passage rule.
2
Analyze the condition for the 15% grant allocation.
The passage specifies that receiving the 15% grant depends on achieving the 40% recycling benchmark within the stipulated timeframe (by December 2027).
Direct logical alignment with explicit conditional statements in the passage.
3
Evaluate statements concerning external costs or unstated prohibitions.
Claims about industrial cost reductions insert outside economic assumptions, while claims about complete grant bans for smaller ULBs misread targeted rules as universal prohibitions.
Distinguishing strict deductive necessity from unwarranted external knowledge and overgeneralized readings.

Key Concept

Strict Textual Deduction and Conditional Reasoning
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Topics

Inference and Logical Deduction

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