GATE 2026 Economics (XH-C1) Paper Analysis: Difficulty, Weightage & Cutoffs
Detailed Review of the Feb 7 Exam, Subject-wise Marks Distribution, and Expected IIT Admission Scores.
Updated: just now
Categories: GATE 2026, Paper Analysis, Economics.
GATE 2026 Economics (XH-C1) Detailed Analysis
Paper Difficulty & Student Feedback
The GATE 2026 XH-C1 paper was Moderate to Hard overall. General Aptitude was student-friendly, but the Economics (C1) section featured rigorous Econometrics problems and conceptually dense Game Theory MSQs. Reasoning and Comprehension (B1) remained balanced but required careful reading.
Aptitude: Easy to Moderate
Reasoning (B1): Moderate
Economics (C1): Moderate to Hard
Subject-Wise Marks Weightage
| Subject Domain | Key Topics Asked in 2026 | Weightage |
|---|---|---|
| Microeconomics | Nash Equilibrium, Consumer Behavior, Asymmetric Information. | High |
| Macroeconomics | Solow Growth Model, IS-LM Framework, Inflation-Unemployment. | Moderate |
| Econometrics & Stats | Hypothesis Testing, OLS, Multicollinearity, Probability. | High |
| Math for Economics | Optimization, Linear Algebra, Difference Equations. | High |
| Indian Economy | BOP, Infrastructure, Trade Policy, Sectoral Growth. | Moderate |
Expected Qualifying Cutoff 2026
Initial projections suggest the cutoff for XH-C1 will remain competitive, likely mirroring the 2025 trends due to the balanced nature of the paper.
| Category | 2026 (Expected) | 2025 (Actual) | 2024 (Actual) |
|---|---|---|---|
| General (GEN) | 42.0 - 46.0 | 40.0 | 37.0 |
| OBC-NCL / EWS | 38.0 - 41.5 | 36.0 | 33.3 |
| SC / ST / PwD | 28.0 - 31.0 | 26.6 | 24.6 |
IIT Admission Targets
IIT Bombay / Kanpur
Marks: 65+ | Rank: Under 100
IIT Madras / Delhi
Marks: 58+ | Rank: Under 250
PSU Shortlisting
Marks: 75+ | Rank: Under 50
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