Caselet DI for bank exams gives you a paragraph of data instead of a table or graph, and you have to build the picture yourself. It is a frequently practiced topic in IBPS PO Mains, SBI PO Mains and other Mains-level exams, and most aspirants lose time because they read the paragraph three times. This guide shows a fast method to extract data from a caselet, the common traps, and 5 solved caselet DI examples with answers. Scroll to the end to download the free practice set PDF.
Table of Contents
What is Caselet DI?
A caselet is a short paragraph with numbers, percentages or ratios, followed by 2 to 5 questions. There is no table or chart. The data is hidden in sentences, and some values are given indirectly (for example “30 more than HR” or “40% more than rice”).
Common caselet types
- Percentage based (students, employees, population)
- Ratio and proportion based (salaries, savings, shares)
- Mixed with averages, profit and loss, or partnership
- Production, area and rate based (crops, factories, sales)
How to Solve Caselet DI Fast: The 5-Step Method
- Read once, mark the numbers. Underline every number, percentage and ratio as you read. Do not solve yet.
- Find the anchor. The anchor is the one fully known value (a total, or a difference that fixes a ratio unit). Everything else is built from it.
- Draw a quick table. Rows for categories, columns for boys/girls or amount/percentage. Fill it in the order of dependency, not the order of the paragraph.
- Convert percentages and ratios to units. Use the fraction-percentage table (40% = 2/5, 12.5% = 1/8) so you avoid decimals.
- Cross-check with the total. If your parts do not add up to the given total, an earlier step is wrong.
Common Traps in Caselet DI
- “More than” versus “less than”: 40% more than rice means 1.4 × rice, not rice + 40.
- Wrong base for a percentage: “30% of women” and “30% of total” are very different.
- Ratios are not actual values. You need the anchor to convert units into real numbers.
- Question asks for the difference or the percentage, not the value. Re-read the last line before marking.
5 Solved Caselet DI Examples with Answers
Example 1: Percentage Caselet (students in streams)
Caselet: A college has 1,500 students in three streams: Arts, Science and Commerce. Science students are 40% of the total. The ratio of Arts to Commerce students is 2 : 3. Among Science students, 60% are boys. Among Arts students, 45% are girls. Among Commerce students, 50% are boys.
Q1. What is the total number of girls in the college?
Q2. How many more boys are there in Commerce than in Arts?
Q3. What is the ratio of girls in Arts to girls in Commerce?
Solution:
| Stream | Total | Boys | Girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Science | 600 | 360 | 240 |
| Arts | 360 | 198 | 162 |
| Commerce | 540 | 270 | 270 |
- Science = 40% of 1,500 = 600. The remaining 900 split 2 : 3, so Arts = 360 and Commerce = 540.
- Science boys = 60% of 600 = 360. Arts girls = 45% of 360 = 162. Commerce boys = 50% of 540 = 270.
Q1: 240 + 162 + 270 = 672
Q2: 270 − 198 = 72
Q3: 162 : 270 = 3 : 5
Check: boys 828 + girls 672 = 1,500.
Example 2: Ratio Caselet (salary and savings)
Caselet: The salaries of Amit, Bhavna and Chetan are in the ratio 5 : 6 : 7. Chetan’s salary is Rs 8,000 more than Amit’s. Amit saves 20% of his salary, Bhavna saves 25% and Chetan saves 30%.
Q1. What is the total salary of the three?
Q2. What is Chetan’s expenditure?
Q3. Bhavna’s savings are what percent of Amit’s savings?
Solution: The anchor is the difference. 7 − 5 = 2 units = Rs 8,000, so 1 unit = Rs 4,000.
- Salaries: Amit = Rs 20,000, Bhavna = Rs 24,000, Chetan = Rs 28,000.
- Savings: Amit = 20% of 20,000 = Rs 4,000. Bhavna = 25% of 24,000 = Rs 6,000. Chetan = 30% of 28,000 = Rs 8,400.
Q1: 20,000 + 24,000 + 28,000 = Rs 72,000
Q2: 28,000 − 8,400 = Rs 19,600
Q3: (6,000 ÷ 4,000) × 100 = 150%
Example 3: Mixed Caselet (employees in departments)
Caselet: A company has 240 employees in three departments: HR, Finance and IT. The IT department has 50% more employees than HR, and the Finance department has 30 more employees than HR. In HR, 40% of the employees are women. In IT, 30% are women. In Finance, 50% are women.
Q1. How many employees are in the Finance department?
Q2. What percent of the total employees are women?
Q3. The number of men in IT is what percent of the number of men in HR?
Solution: Let HR = h. IT = 1.5h and Finance = h + 30.
h + 1.5h + h + 30 = 240, so 3.5h = 210 and h = 60.
| Dept | Total | Women | Men |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR | 60 | 24 | 36 |
| IT | 90 | 27 | 63 |
| Finance | 90 | 45 | 45 |
Q1: 90
Q2: Women = 24 + 27 + 45 = 96. (96 ÷ 240) × 100 = 40%
Q3: (63 ÷ 36) × 100 = 175%
Check: men 144 + women 96 = 240.
Example 4: Partnership Caselet (profit sharing)
Caselet: Arun, Binoy and Chirag start a business. Arun invests Rs 40,000 for 12 months, Binoy invests Rs 50,000 for 9 months and Chirag invests Rs 60,000 for 6 months. The total profit at the end of the year is Rs 43,000, shared in the ratio of (investment × time).
Q1. What is Binoy’s share of the profit?
Q2. How much more does Arun get than Chirag?
Q3. Chirag’s share is what percent of Arun’s share?
Solution: The profit ratio equals investment × months.
- Arun : Binoy : Chirag = 40 × 12 : 50 × 9 : 60 × 6 = 480 : 450 : 360 = 16 : 15 : 12
- Total = 43 units = Rs 43,000, so 1 unit = Rs 1,000.
- Arun = Rs 16,000, Binoy = Rs 15,000, Chirag = Rs 12,000.
Q1: Rs 15,000
Q2: 16,000 − 12,000 = Rs 4,000
Q3: (12 ÷ 16) × 100 = 75%
Example 5: Mains-Level Caselet (crops, area and production)
Caselet: A village has 600 acres of land under three crops: wheat, rice and sugarcane. Sugarcane covers 20% of the total area. The area under wheat is 40% more than the area under rice. The yield per acre is 20 quintals for wheat, 25 quintals for rice and 80 quintals for sugarcane.
Q1. What is the total production of the three crops?
Q2. Wheat production is what percent of rice production?
Q3. If rice sells at Rs 2,000 per quintal, what is the total revenue from rice?
Solution:
- Sugarcane = 20% of 600 = 120 acres. Remaining = 480 acres.
- Let rice = r. Wheat = 1.4r. So r + 1.4r = 480, 2.4r = 480 and r = 200. Wheat = 280 acres.
- Production: wheat = 280 × 20 = 5,600 quintals. Rice = 200 × 25 = 5,000 quintals. Sugarcane = 120 × 80 = 9,600 quintals.
Q1: 5,600 + 5,000 + 9,600 = 20,200 quintals
Q2: (5,600 ÷ 5,000) × 100 = 112%
Q3: 5,000 × 2,000 = Rs 1,00,00,000 (Rs 1 crore)
Check: area 200 + 280 + 120 = 600 acres.
Answer Key
| Example | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 672 | 72 | 3 : 5 |
| 2 | Rs 72,000 | Rs 19,600 | 150% |
| 3 | 90 | 40% | 175% |
| 4 | Rs 15,000 | Rs 4,000 | 75% |
| 5 | 20,200 quintals | 112% | Rs 1 crore |
Time-Saving Tips for Caselet DI
- Skip the caselet that needs the most steps first, and solve the one with an obvious anchor. Come back to the tough one later.
- Keep the table small. Only write the values the questions actually ask for.
- Use the sum check every time. It catches mistakes before they cost you marks.
- Practice approximation (see our Approximation and Simplification post) because Mains DI questions often need quick percentage calculations.
FAQs on Caselet DI for Bank Exams
Is caselet DI asked in IBPS PO Mains and SBI PO Mains?
It has been a regular type of data interpretation practiced for Mains-level exams, but the exact pattern changes from year to year. Check the latest exam notification and the previous year’s paper.
What is the fastest way to solve caselet DI?
Mark the numbers while reading, find the one fully known value (the anchor), build a small table and verify with the total. Do not read the paragraph again and again.
How much time should I spend on one caselet?
Aim for 6 to 8 minutes for a set of 4 to 5 questions once you are comfortable, and skip if the data needs too many steps.
Which topics should I revise before practicing caselet DI?
Percentages, ratios, averages, profit and loss, and basic partnership. The fraction-percentage chart saves a lot of time.
Download Caselet DI Questions PDF
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