UPSC Essentials brings to you its initiative for the practice of Mains answer writing. It covers essential topics of static and dynamic parts of the UPSC Civil Services syllabus covered under various GS papers. This answer-writing practice is designed to help you as a value addition to your UPSC CSE Mains. Attempt today’s answer writing on questions related to topics of GS-3 to check your progress. Click Here to read the UPSC Essentials magazine for December 2025. Share your views and suggestions in the comment box or at manas.srivastava@indianexpress.comQUESTION 1India’s domestic aviation market has long been dominated by a few major carriers. Discuss the potential benefits and limitations of introducing new regional airlines.QUESTION 2Discuss the strategic importance of the Siliguri Corridor for India’s national security and regional connectivity, and the implications of destabilisation narratives linked to Bangladesh.QUESTION 1: India’s domestic aviation market has long been dominated by a few major carriers. Discuss the potential benefits and limitations of introducing new regional airlines.Relevance: Entry of new airlines links competition economics, infrastructure growth, ease of doing business, and consumer welfare in a capital-intensive sector—core GS-3 themes under Indian Economy & Infrastructure. UPSC has repeatedly focused on market structure, competition, infrastructure sectors and reforms under GS-3.Note: This is not a model UPSC answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.Introduction:Story continues below this ad— The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) gave no objection certificates (NOCs) to two new airlines, Al Hind Air and FlyExpress, taking the number of Indian regional airlines in the pipeline to four.— The government wants more domestic airlines in the Indian skies, the sector remains challenging, particularly in the regional segment that has seen way more failures than successes.Body:— India’s largest airline IndiGo faced a massive operational meltdown, which raised concerns about the evident duopoly in India’s airline sector as IndiGo and the Air India group cumulatively have a domestic market share of over 90 per cent.Benefits of introducing regional airlines— It connects smaller towns, draws businesses, improves tourism, and generates job opportunities in developing countries.Story continues below this ad— Provides essential transportation for passengers and commodities to isolated places, increasing access to services.— Reduces rates, increases flying frequency, and gives travellers more options.— Feeds traffic into key hubs, hence increasing load factors and perhaps cutting network unit costs.Limitations— High operational expenses and low passenger numbers on short routes reduce revenues. Smaller airports may experience seasonal or unpredictable demand, making trips commercially hazardous.Story continues below this ad— Regional airports’ operations are hampered by a lack of night landings, insufficient ATC, and inadequate ground amenities.— India has been a difficult market for airlines, particularly smaller regional carriers, due to factors like high price sensitivity, low profit margins, high and dollar-denominated operational costs, and high debt levels, among others.— Most regional airlines lack the required financial resources to maintain operational stability and resilience to absorb external shocks.— The distances usually covered in regional flight operations tend to have more viable and cost-effective alternative modes of transport like trains and road transport.Conclusion:Story continues below this ad— There is hope among some quarters of the government, as well as the industry, that as the Indian aviation market matures with a growing and upwardly mobile middle class, the viability of regional airlines could improve.— To ensure their success, they will have to ensure lean and cost-effective operations, identify and cater to underserved regions that have enough regional flight demand but have been neglected by the large airlines, and create a strong presence in specific target regions.(Source: India may soon get 4 new regional airlines, but here’s why their success isn’t guaranteed)Points to PonderRead more about regional airlinesWhy in India most regional airlines have failed?Related Previous Year QuestionsWhat is the need for expanding the regional air connectivity in India? In this context, discuss the government’s UDAN Scheme and its achievements. (2024)Story continues below this adExamine the development of Airports in India through joint ventures under Public – Private Partnership (PPP) model. What are the challenges faced by the authorities in this regard. (2017)QUESTION 2: Discuss the strategic importance of the Siliguri Corridor for India’s national security and regional connectivity, and the implications of destabilisation narratives linked to Bangladesh.Relevance: Recent geopolitical narratives around Bangladesh, China’s neighbourhood strategy, and connectivity to the Northeast link security concerns with economic and logistical vulnerability—core GS-3 internal security themes. As per the previous trends, UPSC frequently asks about internal security, border management, and strategic choke points under GS-3. (File Image)Note: This is not a model UPSC answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.Introduction:Story continues below this ad— The Seven Sisters refer to India’s seven northeastern states. Currently, the only way for the rest of India to reach the seven Northeastern states is via the tiny Siliguri Corridor, sometimes known as “Chicken’s Neck”.— This corridor, which straddles Nepal and Bangladesh and is only 20 km wide at its narrowest point, has long posed an economic and strategic challenge to New Delhi, prompting some experts to label it “an Achilles heel for India”.Body:Importance of the Corridor— The Corridor, about 20 km in width and 60 km in length, is wedged between neighbours Nepal and Bhutan to the north and Bangladesh to the south. Two significant transboundary rivers, Mahananda and Teesta, run along the Corridor.— The constructive cross-border engagements have enhanced the significance of the Corridor for trade and mobility in and around the Northeast.Story continues below this ad— In the past 10 years of the Act East Policy and before the Manipur violence took off, the Northeast was fast emerging as a growth multiplier, with enhanced infrastructure, connectivity and investments. The Siliguri Corridor, with its proximity to Chumbi Valley, a tri-junction of India, Bhutan, and China, acted as India’s gateway to Southeast Asia.Challenges— Open trans-border access has also increased illegal activities in the region. Human and drug trafficking, pumping fake currency into India’s economy, and safe international transit for various agents and underground groups that are hostile to India’s national security, have made it a critical vulnerability for India.— The porous borders with Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh, has put this so-called “chicken’s neck” under perpetual threat.Also Read | Knowledge Nugget | Translocation of Cheetahs — What you must know for the UPSC ExamConclusion:— Over the last decade-and-a-half, an important element of India’s engagement with Bangladesh was to open pathways to the Northeast via Bangladesh, as would have been the case pre-Partition. Agartala, the capital of Tripura, lies less than 200 km from the port of Chattogram in Bangladesh.— With the Corridor coming under fresh external challenges, there is an urgent need to adopt robust security measures.(Sources: ‘Isolate Northeast’s Seven Sisters’: What triggered fresh tensions between India and Bangladesh, Siliguri Corridor: Security, connectivity, and challenges)Points to PonderRole of SSB in safeguarding Siliguri Corridor from external threats?Map work: See the connecting Indian States and International Borders, RiversRelated Previous Year QuestionsWhat are the major challenges to internal security and peace process in the North-Eastern States? Map the various peace accords and agreements initiated by the government in the past decade. (2025)Keeping in view of India’s internal security, analyse the impact of cross-border cyber-attacks. Also, discuss defensive measures against these sophisticated attacks.(2021)Previous Mains Answer PracticeUPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 134)UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 133)UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 134)UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 133)UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 133)UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 133)Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week.Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – IndianExpress UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagram and X.