RAS question
The following table shows production (in tonnes) of a factory: Year: 2019=200, 2020=250, 2021=300, 2022=350, 2023=400. The percentage increase in production from 2019 to 2023 is:
Correct answer: (B) 100%.
The factory's production increased by 100% from 2019 to 2023 because output rose from 200 tonnes to 400 tonnes.
Explanation
Production was 200 tonnes in 2019 and 400 tonnes in 2023, so the increase is 400 - 200 = 200 tonnes. NCERT's Comparing Quantities method treats a percentage as a comparison made against the relevant base and converts the ratio to a percentage by multiplying by 100. Here, the base is the 2019 production, not the 2023 production. Therefore, percentage increase = increase/original value x 100 = 200/200 x 100 = 100%. The result means the production became twice the 2019 level; it does not mean 200% increase, because 200% would count the final value as two times the base rather than the increase over the base.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) 80% would require the increase to be 160 tonnes on a base of 200 tonnes, but the actual increase is 200 tonnes.
- (C) 150% would mean an increase of 300 tonnes over the 2019 base, which would take production to 500 tonnes, not 400 tonnes.
- (D) 200% confuses the final output being 200% of the 2019 output with the percentage increase; the increase itself is only equal to the original 200 tonnes.
Concept
This tests percentage increase in the Reasoning and Mental Ability area: identify the original value, find the change, and express that change as a percentage of the original. It recurs in RAS-style data interpretation because tables often ask for growth, decline, and comparative change across years.