Step 1: The annual risk of tuberculous infection (ARI) is the proportion of a population that gets newly infected with the tubercle bacillus in one year. So the statement that ARI is the percentage of new infections is correct.
Step 2: ARI is one of the best epidemiological indices to follow the TB trend, because it falls as transmission is interrupted by effective control. So that statement is also correct.
Step 3: The estimated ARI for India has classically been put at about 1.7%, so that statement is correct.
Step 4: The standard rule of thumb relates ARI to disease load. A 1% ARI corresponds to roughly 50 new smear positive (infectious) cases per 100,000 population per year, not 75. The figure of 75 is wrong, so this is the false statement and therefore the exception.
The correct answer is option B.