Question

Tata Chemicals' own natural and synthetic soda ash output was:

Year	Natural Soda Ash (MT)	Synthetic Soda Ash (MT)
2005	0	0.7
2007	0.4	2.2
2008	3.2	2.2

Suppose total global production of soda ash in 2008 was 40 MT, and Tata Chemicals was the second highest producer of soda ash globally, right after another company called Solvay. FMC Wyoming was the third highest producer. The two Indian giants, Tata Chemicals and Nirma, had a combined soda ash production capacity of 8.8 MT.

Which of the following statements are right?
1. Solvay's market share was more than 20.66%
2. Solvay's market share was more than 13.5%
3. FMC's share was less than 10.33%
4. FMC's share was less than 13.5%
5. Nirma, which was the sixth largest producer, had a share of less than 8.5%
Choose the right option.

• A. 1 and 3
• B. 1 and 5
• C. 2 and 4
• D. 1, 3 and 5

Hint:

Work out Tata's own 2008 share first (5.4 MT of 40 MT, which is 13.5 percent), then use Solvay greater than Tata greater than FMC to bound the other two shares, and treat the Tata plus Nirma capacity figure as a ceiling, not an exact output number.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
We are given the 2008 world total (40 MT, hypothetically), a producer ranking (Solvay above Tata above FMC), and a combined production capacity figure for Tata and Nirma (8.8 MT). We must decide which of the five share claims can actually be pinned down from this.

Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
First work out Tata's own share exactly, since it is the only company whose output we can read directly off the chart. Then use the ranking Solvay greater than Tata greater than FMC to bound the other two companies against Tata's known share.

Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
From the Tata Chemicals chart, in 2008 Tata made 3.2 MT of natural soda ash plus 2.2 MT of synthetic soda ash, so its total output was 5.4 MT. As a share of the 40 MT world total, that is \( 5.4/40 = 0.135 \), or exactly 13.5 percent.
Solvay produced more than Tata (Solvay is ranked first, Tata second), so Solvay's share must be more than 13.5 percent. That makes statement 2 definitely true. Statement 1 asks for something stronger, more than 20.66 percent, but knowing only that Solvay beats 13.5 percent does not force it past 20.66 percent, so statement 1 cannot be confirmed.
FMC Wyoming is ranked third, right behind Tata, so FMC's output (and hence its share) must be less than Tata's 13.5 percent. That makes statement 4 definitely true. Statement 3 again asks for something stronger, less than 10.33 percent, which is not guaranteed just because FMC trails Tata, FMC could be anywhere between 10.33 and 13.5 percent, so statement 3 cannot be confirmed.
For Nirma, we are only told that Tata and Nirma TOGETHER have a production capacity of 8.8 MT, not that they actually produced 8.8 MT between them. Since Tata alone already produced 5.4 MT, whatever capacity is left over for Nirma is at most \( 8.8 - 5.4 = 3.4 \) MT, which is at most \( 3.4/40 = 8.5 \) percent of the 2008 total. This is only an upper ceiling equal to 8.5 percent, not a figure strictly below 8.5 percent, so statement 5 (share less than 8.5 percent) cannot be certified as strictly true from the numbers given.

Step 4: Final Answer:
Only statements 2 and 4 can be confirmed from the given data, so the answer is option C.
\[ \boxed{\text{2 and 4}} \]