Ch. 6 Manufacturing Industries

Q. What are basic industries?

A. Basic or key industries are the industries which supply their products as raw materials to manufacture other goods e.g. iron and steel and copper smelting, aluminium smelting etc.

Q. Where was the first jute mill set up in India?

A. The first jute mill was set up near Kolkata in 1859 at Rishra.

Q. Which state has the largest number of jute mills?

A. Most of the Jute mills are located in West Bengal, mainly along the banks of the Hugli river, in a narrow belt (98 km long and 3 km wide).

Q. Why is iron and steel industry known as a heavy industry?

A. Iron and steel is a heavy industry because all the raw materials, as well as finished goods, are heavy and bulky entailing heavy transportation costs. 

Q. Which agency markets steel for the public sector plants? 

A. Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) markets steel for the public sector plants.

Q. Which city is known as “Manchester of India”?

A. Ahmedabad is known for its textile mills so it is known as “Manchester of India”.

Q. Which industry uses gypsum as a raw material?

A. The cement industry uses gypsum as a raw material.

Q. What is manufacturing?

A. The production of goods in large quantities after processing raw materials to make more valuable products is called manufacturing.

Q. What are the objectives of the National Jute Policy?

A. The National Jute Policy was formulated in 2005 with the objective of increasing productivity, improving quality, ensuring good prices for the jute farmers and enhancing the yield per hectare.

Q. Classify industries on the basis of raw materials. How are they different from each other?

A. On the basis of raw materials used, industries can be classified into either agro-based or mineral based industries.

Agro-based Industries	Mineral Based Industries
These industries use agricultural output like cotton, sugarcane, coffee beans etc. as their raw materials.	These use minerals like iron ore, bauxite, lime-stone etc. From mines as their raw materials.
These raw materials are comparatively light.	These raw materials are comparatively bulky.
Such industries include cotton, wool, jute, silk textile, rubber and sugar, tea, coffee, edible oil.	Such industries include iron and steel, cement, aluminium, machine tools, petrochemicals.

Q. Explain any three physical factors that control the location of an industry in a particular area.

A. Three physical factors are-

・Availability of raw materials: Industries tend to be located in places from where raw material can be procured easily at the minimum costs.

・Availability of labour: Industries tend to be located in places where skilled as well as unskilled labour is easily available at minimum costs.

・Infrastructure: Industries tend to be located where infrastructure is developed. This infrastructure includes power supply, water supply, roads, railways and other means of transportation etc.

Q. Why is iron and steel industry called the basic industry? Explain any three reasons.

A. Iron and steel industry is called basic industry due to the following reasons:

・This industry supplies its products as raw materials to manufacture other goods.

・All other industries - heavy, medium and light, depend on it for their machinery. This is because a majority of industrial machinery is made out steel.

・Iron is needed to manufacture steel and steel is needed to manufacture a variety of engineering goods, construction material, defence material, medical, telephonic, scientific equipment and a variety of consumer goods.

Q. India is an important iron and steel producing country in the world, yet we are not able to perform to our full potential. Give any three reasons.

A. India is ranked 4th among the world crude steel producers and we are the largest producer of sponge iron. Yet we are not able to perform to our full potential because of the following reasons-

・High costs and limited availability of coking coal.

・Lower productivity of labour.

・Irregular supply of energy and Poor infrastructure.

Q. Give reasons why the iron and steel industry in India is concentrated around the Chotanagpur plateau region.

A. The iron and steel industry in India is concentrated around the Chotanagpur plateau region due to the following reasons:

・Iron ore, which is the basic raw material for this industry, is abundant in this region. Thus it is also available at cheap rates.

・Cheap skilled and unskilled labour is easily available in this region.

・Transport facilities are easily available in this region. It is near the port of Kolkata and Vishakhapatnam which can provide cheap transportation via waterways.

Q. Sugar mills are shifting towards southern and western states of India. Why?

A.・Sugar mills in the country spread over Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat along with Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. Sixty percent mills are in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

・In recent years, there is a tendency for the mills to shift and concentrate in the southern and western states, especially in Maharashtra.

・This is because the cane produced here has a higher sucrose content. The cooler climate also ensures a longer crushing season. Moreover, the cooperatives are more successful in these states.

Q. Why is the manufacturing sector considered the backbone of economic development of the country?

A. The manufacturing sector is considered the backbone of development mainly because:

・Manufacturing industries not only help in modernising agriculture, which forms the backbone of our economy, they also reduce the heavy dependence of people on agricultural income by providing them jobs in secondary and tertiary sectors.

・Industrial development is a precondition for the eradication of unemployment and poverty from our country. This was the main philosophy behind public sector industries and joint sector ventures in India. It was also aimed at bringing down regional disparities by establishing industries in tribal and backward areas.

・ Export of manufactured goods expands trade and commerce and brings in much needed foreign exchange.

・Countries that transform their raw materials into a wide variety of furnished goods of higher value are prosperous. India’s prosperity lies in increasing and diversifying its manufacturing industries as quickly as possible.

Q. Agriculture and industry are complementary to one another. Justify.

A. ・Agriculture and industry are not exclusive of each other. They move hand in hand.

・ For instance, the agro-industries in India have given a major boost to agriculture by raising its productivity. They depend on the latter for raw materials and sell their products such as irrigation pumps, fertilisers, insecticides, pesticides, plastic and PVC pipes, machines and tools, etc. to the farmers. 

・Thus, development, and competitiveness of manufacturing industry have not only assisted agriculturists in increasing their production but also made the production processes very efficient.

Q. How are water bodies polluted by industries? Name four industries which pollute water bodies.

A. Water pollution is caused by organic and inorganic industrial wastes and effluents discharged into rivers. The main culprits in this regard are paper, pulp, chemical, textile and dyeing, petroleum refineries, tanneries and electroplating industries that let out dyes, detergents, acids, salts and heavy metals like lead and mercury pesticides, fertilisers, synthetic chemicals with carbon, plastics and rubber, etc. into the water bodies. Fly ash, phospho-gypsum and iron and steel slags are the major solid wastes in India.

Four water polluting industries are:

・Thermal Plants: Thermal pollution of water occurs when hot water from factories and thermal plants is drained into rivers and ponds before cooling.

・Petroleum Industry

・Chemical Industry

・Leather Industry

Q. What factors have led to the location of cotton textile industry in Mumbai and Ahmedabad?

A. In the early years, the cotton textile industry was concentrated in the cotton growing belt of Maharashtra and Gujarat. Factors that have contributed towards this localisation are:

・Availability of raw materials: Raw cotton is easily available in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

・ Transport: Port facilities were easily accessible in the coastal states of Gujarat and Maharashtra. Thus textiles can take advantage of waterways which are cheap means of transport.

・ Labour: Skilled and unskilled labour is easily available in these two states.

・Moist climate: Cotton requires moist climate which is present in these two states.

・Market: Maharashtra and Gujarat also provide a huge market as spinning is centralised in these two states along with Tamil Nadu.

Q. Why is the cotton textile industry the largest industry in India today?

A. The cotton textile industry is the largest industry in India because-

・The textile industry, as a whole, is the only industry in India which is self-reliant and complete in the value chain i.e. from raw materials to the highest value-added products.

・This industry has close links with agriculture and provides a living to farmers, cotton boll pluckers and workers engaged in ginning, spinning, weaving, dyeing, designing, packaging, tailoring, and sewing.

・The industry by creating demand, supports many other industries, such as chemicals and dyes, mill stores, packaging materials and engineering works.

・India has the second largest installed capacity of spindles in the world, with 43.13 million spindles (2011-12). Since the mid-eighties, the spinning sector has received a lot of attention.


・We have made a significant increase in the production of good quality long staple cotton (356 lakh bales of 170 kgs each during 2011-12).

Q. How do industries cause air pollution? Explain the ill effects of pollution.

A.・Air pollution is caused by the presence of high proportion of undesirable gases, such as sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide. Such gases are released by industries in large quantities.

・Airborne particulate materials contain both solid and liquid particles like dust, sprays mist and smoke.

・Smoke is emitted by chemical and paper factories, brick kilns, refineries and smelting plants, and burning of fossil fuels in big and small factories that ignore pollution norms.

・Air pollution adversely affects human health, animals, plants, buildings and the atmosphere as a whole. 

・Toxic gas leaks from industries can be very hazardous with long-term effects. e.g. the Bhopal Gas Tragedy was caused by a chemical industry located in Bhopal.