RAS question
The Rajasthan Industrial Development and Investment Corporation (RIICO) was established in which year?
Correct answer: (B) 1980.
The Rajasthan Industrial Development and Investment Corporation Limited, or RIICO, was established on 1 January 1980 after the bifurcation of the earlier Rajasthan State Industrial and Mineral Development Corporation.
Explanation
RIICO’s establishment date is 1 January 1980, not the date on which its predecessor was incorporated. The official RIICO profile says the government enterprise was incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 on 28 March 1969 as the Rajasthan State Industrial and Mineral Development Corporation, or RSIMDC. That original corporation was later bifurcated into two bodies: Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation Limited, known as RIICO, and Rajasthan State Mineral Development Corporation, or RSMDC. Since the question asks specifically about RIICO, the relevant date is the bifurcation date, 1 January 1980. RIICO’s role is tied to Rajasthan’s industrialisation through industrial areas, infrastructure, and financial support to projects.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) 1991 is wrong because neither the original RSIMDC incorporation nor the RIICO bifurcation date in the official profile falls in 1991.
- (C) 1969 refers to the incorporation of the predecessor body, Rajasthan State Industrial and Mineral Development Corporation, not the establishment of RIICO as a separate corporation.
- (D) 1975 is wrong because the official RIICO profile places the creation of RIICO through bifurcation on 1 January 1980.
Concept
This tests Rajasthan’s industrial development institutions, especially the distinction between a predecessor corporation and a successor agency. Such dates recur in RAS because RIICO is central to industrial areas, infrastructure, and investment promotion in Rajasthan.