Why manufacturing is important
- It turns raw material into more valuable goods (value addition).
- It gives jobs and pulls people out of depending only on farming.
- It helps farming itself: tractors, fertilisers, pumps come from industry.
- It reduces poverty and unemployment and balances regions.
- Exports of manufactured goods earn foreign money.
Agriculture and industry go hand in hand: agro-industries buy farm products, and farms buy factory goods. India aims to raise the share of manufacturing in GDP to about 25% (it has stayed around 17%).
Classification of industries
- By raw material: agro-based (cotton, jute, silk, sugar, edible oil) and mineral-based (iron and steel, cement, aluminium, petrochemicals).
- By main role: basic or key industries supply goods to other industries (iron and steel, copper smelting); consumer industries make goods for people (sugar, toothpaste, fans).
- By capital: small-scale (less money invested) and large-scale.
- By ownership: public sector (government: BHEL, SAIL), private sector (TISCO, Dabur), joint sector (Oil India Ltd), cooperative sector (sugar mills of Maharashtra, coir in Kerala).
- By bulk and weight: heavy (iron and steel) and light (electrical goods).
Where industries are located
An industry grows where its costs are lowest: near raw material, cheap power, labour, capital, good transport and a market. Once an industry starts, towns grow around it (urbanisation), and many industries gather to share services; this is called agglomeration economies.
Key industries of India
- Cotton textiles: first successful mill in Mumbai (1854); near the cotton belt of Maharashtra and Gujarat; spinning is strong, weaving less so; handloom gives many jobs.
- Jute: along the Hugli river in West Bengal; cheap water transport and labour.
- Sugar: seasonal; mills are moving south (Maharashtra, Karnataka) for longer crushing season.
- Iron and steel: basic industry; iron ore, coking coal and limestone in a 4:2:1 ratio; most plants on the Chota Nagpur plateau.
- Aluminium: needs bauxite and huge, cheap electricity; Odisha, Chhattisgarh.
- Chemicals and fertilisers: organic and inorganic chemicals; fertiliser plants make nitrogen, phosphate fertilisers.
- Cement: limestone, silica, gypsum; near raw material; first plant in Chennai (1904).
- Automobiles, IT and electronics: Bengaluru is the electronic capital; IT needs skilled people more than heavy raw material.
Industrial pollution and how to control it
- Air: smoke, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide from factories and power plants.
- Water: dyes, chemicals, detergents and hot water dumped into rivers.
- Thermal: hot water from power plants harms water life.
- Land: dumping of waste, slag and glass makes soil toxic.
- Noise: machines, generators, saws cause hearing loss and stress.
Control: fit smoke filters, electrostatic precipitators and scrubbers on chimneys; treat waste water in three stages (physical, biological, chemical) before release; reuse and recycle water; harvest rainwater; use cleaner fuels; plant trees around factories; use silencers and ear protection. NTPC's plants show that power can be produced with care for the environment.
Try it
In the last 3D step, predict: which cure will turn the river blue? Move the slider one step at a time and check. At home: look at five things in your room and find out whether they came from an agro-based or a mineral-based industry.
Key formulas and definitions
- Manufacturing: raw material → more valuable product (value addition)
- Agro-based vs mineral-based
- Public · Private · Joint · Cooperative sector
- Location: raw material, power, labour, capital, transport, market
- Iron and steel: iron ore : coking coal : limestone ≈ 4 : 2 : 1
Worked examples
1. Classify Amul by ownership and by raw material.
Ownership: cooperative sector. Raw material: agro-based (milk from farms).
2. Why are most iron and steel plants on the Chota Nagpur plateau?
Iron ore, coal and limestone are found close by; cheap labour and rail links are also there.
3. A steel plant needs 4 tonnes of iron ore for every 1 tonne of limestone. How much ore for 25 tonnes of limestone?
4 × 25 = 100 tonnes of iron ore.
Common mistakes
- Thinking basic industries make things for homes. They make goods for other industries.
- Calling TISCO a public sector company. It is private; SAIL is public.
- Saying IT needs heavy raw material. It needs skilled people and good communication.
- Forgetting thermal pollution when listing types of pollution.