Core food technology
Textbook of Food Science and Technology (ICAR)
Indian food technology baseline for processing, preservation, chemistry.
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Exam resources
UPSC Assistant Director, IEDS (Food) 2026
UPSC recruits Assistant Director Grade-I and Grade-II (Food) officers for the Indian Enterprise Development Service (IEDS), Office of the Development Commissioner (MSME).
Syllabus-aligned UPSC IEDS (Food) notes, solved questions and practice sets. Preview 20 pages free.
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The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) recruits Assistant Director Grade-I and Grade-II (Food) officers for the Indian Enterprise Development Service (IEDS), under the Office of the Development Commissioner (MSME). The 2026 cycle has seven Food posts: three Grade-I and four Grade-II. Applications closed on 12 June 2026; the combined offline recruitment test is scheduled for 11 October 2026, from 2:00 to 4:00 PM.
- Conducted by
- Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)
2026 combined recruitment-test notice (opens on the official site)
UPSC Advertisement No. 05/2026 (opens on the official site)
2025 combined recruitment-test notice (opens on the official site)
UPSC recruitment-test notices (opens on the official site)
UPSC final-result archives (opens on the official site)
Who can apply
For the 2026 Food posts, UPSC accepts a B.Tech in Food Technology or a Post Graduate Diploma in Fruits Technology. Applications for this cycle closed on 12 June 2026.
- Grade-I (Vacancy No. 26050521623): 3 posts — UR 1, OBC 1, SC 1; Pay Level 10; age 30 years UR, 33 OBC, 35 SC
- Grade-II (Vacancy No. 26050522623): 4 posts — UR 2, OBC 1, ST 1; Pay Level 7; age 30 years UR, 33 OBC, 35 ST
- Essential qualification for both posts: B.Tech Food Technology or PG Diploma in Fruits Technology from a recognised university or institute
- Combined offline test: 11 October 2026, 2:00-4:00 PM; objective, English and Hindi, with one-third negative marking
A summary. Confirm the details in the current notice.
Source: UPSC Advertisement No. 05/2026 ↗. Source: UPSC 2026 combined RT notice ↗. Checked 2026-09-13.
Based on past papers, not an official scheme. Confirm in the current notice.
Every section is compulsory, with no choice between them, and the paper is timed at 120 minutes.
| Section | Questions | Marks | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Studies and Engineering Aptitude | 120 | 300 | Compulsory |
| Paper total | 120 | 300 |
The 2026 UPSC notice fixes a two-hour bilingual (English and Hindi) objective paper with equal marks and a one-third penalty for each wrong answer. It does not state the question count or total marks; 120 questions and 300 marks are taken from both actual 2024 IEDS General Aptitude Test booklets supplied with these resources.
Marking scheme
Each question carries 2.5 marks (120 questions, 300 marks). A wrong answer loses one-third of its marks (0.83). An unanswered question scores zero. Our mocks for this exam are scored the same way.
The 2026 rows are the current advertised vacancies; applicant counts are not yet published. The 2024 cut-offs are for Assistant Director Grade-II (Food), IEDS, Advertisement No. 10/2024 (Vacancy No. 24051023625). A dash means UPSC did not report a figure in the supplied result sheet.
Vacancies and applicant volume
| Year | Post | Vacancies | Category split | Applicants / appeared | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Assistant Director Grade-I (Food) | 3 | UR 1, OBC 1, SC 1 | Not published | UPSC Advertisement No. 05/2026 ↗ |
| 2026 | Assistant Director Grade-II (Food) | 4 | UR 2, OBC 1, ST 1 | Not published | UPSC Advertisement No. 05/2026 ↗ |
| 2025 | Assistant Director Grade-I (Food) | 17 | Category split not stated in the supplied test-date notice | 2,089 (Gen 759, OBC 850, EWS 102, SC 307, ST 71) | UPSC notice ↗ Applicant-count reply ↗ |
| 2025 | Assistant Director Grade-II (Food) | 4 | Category split not stated in the supplied test-date notice | 1,324 (Gen 535, OBC 575, EWS 74, SC 112, ST 28) | UPSC notice ↗ Applicant-count reply ↗ |
| 2024 | Assistant Director Grade-II (Food) | 19 | UR 1, OBC 8, SC 6, ST 2, EWS 2; one vacancy reserved for PH-HI | 402 appeared in the recruitment test | UPSC marks and cut-off sheet ↗ |
Category-wise cut-off marks
| Year | Stage | UR | OBC | SC | ST | EWS | PH-HI | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Recruitment Test (out of 300) | 100.83 | 70.83 | 57.50 | 55.00 | 63.33 | 15.00 | UPSC result sheet ↗ |
| 2024 | Interview (out of 100) | 50 | 45 | 40 | 40 | 50 | 40 | UPSC result sheet ↗ |
| 2024 | Final selection (out of 400) | — | 142.00 | 127.50 | 136.50 | 139.83 | 69.00 | UPSC result sheet ↗ |
| 2024 | Highest marks | — | 155.83 | 142.83 | 140.18 | 163.18 | 69.00 | UPSC result sheet ↗ |
Compared across past papers. Not an official announcement.
| Change | Compared papers | Before | After | What changed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | UPSC IEDS Previous Year Paper Year_2025B → UPSC IEDS Previous Year Paper Year_2025A | 100 q 200 marks 120 min 1 section | 100 q 200 marks 120 min 1 section |
Dropped
General Studies & Engineering Aptitude
Added
General Aptitude Test
|
Free PDFs and recommended books for UPSC Assistant Director, IEDS (Food). How we choose
Core food technology
4 resourcesCore food technology
Food Science by B. Srilakshmi
Useful for food chemistry, nutrition, preservation.
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Microbiology
Food Microbiology by M. R. Adams and M. O. Moss
Strong reference for spoilage, pathogens, fermentation.
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Food engineering
Food Process Engineering and Technology by Zeki Berk
Good engineering reference for heat transfer, dehydration, freezing.
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Aptitude and general studies
2 resourcesAptitude
Quantitative Aptitude by R. S. Aggarwal
Useful for arithmetic, reasoning-adjacent quantitative practice in recruitment papers.
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General studies
Lucent General Knowledge
Compact static GK reference for state FSO, FCI.
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Free channels worth following for UPSC Assistant Director, IEDS (Food).
YouTube channels
1 channelCoaching (free lectures)
Agriculture & GK
Long free class series for FSSAI CFSO.
Full topic list and section weightage UPSC Assistant Director, IEDS (Food) syllabus and exam pattern
IEDS previous-year papers
The real IEDS 2026 General Aptitude Test held on 11 October 2026 is available with all 100 questions. An answer key has not yet been verified, so this paper is available for reading rather than scored practice.
- Real IEDS paper 2026 11 Oct 2026 New Free UPSC IEDS Previous Year Paper Year_2026 100Questions15Pages Free PDF View paper
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Tests for this exam
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- Full mock test Free Hard Set 1 UPSC IEDS Mock Test 1 250Marks 120 minDuration Free Start test
- Full mock test Free Hard Set 2 UPSC IEDS Mock Test 2 250Marks 120 minDuration Free Start test
- Full mock test Free Medium Set 3 UPSC IEDS Mock Test 3 250Marks 120 minDuration Free Start test
- Full mock test Free Easy Set 4 UPSC IEDS Mock Test 4 250Marks 120 minDuration Free Start test
- Full mock test Free Hard Set 5 UPSC IEDS Mock Test 5 250Marks 120 minDuration Free Start test
- Full mock test Free Medium Set 6 UPSC IEDS Mock Test 6 250Marks 120 minDuration Free Start test
- Full mock test Free Easy Set 7 UPSC IEDS Mock Test 7 250Marks 120 minDuration Free Start test
- Full mock test Free Easy Set 8 UPSC IEDS Mock Test 8 250Marks 120 minDuration Free Start test
- Full mock test Free Hard Set 9 UPSC IEDS Mock Test 9 250Marks 120 minDuration Free Start test
- Full mock test Free Easy Set 10 UPSC IEDS Mock Test 10 250Marks 120 minDuration Free Start test
- Full mock test Free Hard Set 11 UPSC IEDS Mock Test 11 250Marks 120 minDuration Free Start test
- Full mock test Free Medium Set 12 UPSC IEDS Mock Test 12 250Marks 120 minDuration Free Start test