1. Importance of manufacturing industries
- Manufacturing: processing raw materials into goods of higher value (secondary sector).
- Employment: jobs in factories and related services; reduces pressure on agriculture.
- Value addition and higher national income.
- Exports: textiles, garments, steel, chemicals, medicines, vehicles, electronics earn foreign exchange.
- Self-reliance: home-made machinery, steel, fertilisers and defence goods reduce imports.
- Support to agriculture: tractors, pumps, fertilisers; agro-based industries buy farm produce.
- Regional development: industries bring infrastructure and towns to backward areas.
| Benefit | Example |
|---|---|
| Jobs | Powerlooms of Surat |
| Exports | Garments of Tiruppur |
| Self-reliance | Indian steel and fertilisers |
Key terms
- Manufacturing
Converting raw materials into finished goods of higher value.
- Value addition
The increase in the worth of a material when it is processed into a product.
2. Classification of industries
| Basis | Types | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Size | Large-scale; small-scale; cottage | Steel plant; powerloom unit; handloom |
| Raw material | Agro-based; mineral-based; forest-based; marine-based | Sugar, cotton, silk; steel, cement, petrochemicals; paper; fish canning |
| Ownership | Public; private; joint; cooperative | SAIL, BHEL; Tata Steel, Reliance; government + private; Kolhapur sugar cooperatives, Amul |
- Location factors: raw material, power, water, climate, labour, market, transport, capital, government policy.
- Bulky or perishable raw materials pull industries towards their source; fragile or costly-to-carry products pull them towards markets.
| Ownership | Owner |
|---|---|
| Public | Government |
| Private | Individuals or companies |
| Joint | Government and private firms |
| Cooperative | Producers or workers |
Key terms
- Agro-based industry
An industry that uses farm produce as its raw material, such as sugar or cotton textiles.
- Cooperative sector
Industries owned and run by the producers or workers who supply the raw material.
- Public sector
Industries owned and managed by the government.
3. Sugar industry
- Location near cane fields: cane is heavy and bulky (only about a tenth becomes sugar); sucrose falls soon after cutting, so cane must be crushed within about a day; it cannot be stored.
- Leading states (as of the early 2020s): Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra; also Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh.
- Shift to the peninsula: higher sucrose content and yield per hectare; longer crushing season in a frost-free climate; well-run cooperatives in Maharashtra; newer, larger mills.
- By-products: bagasse (fuel, paper, boards); molasses (industrial alcohol, ethanol); press mud (manure).
- Problems: seasonal working; low yields and sucrose in the north; old, small mills; high costs; delayed payments to farmers; competition from gur and khandsari.
| Head | North | Peninsula |
|---|---|---|
| Sucrose | Lower | Higher |
| Season | Shorter | Longer |
| Mills | Older | Newer, cooperative |
Key terms
- Molasses
A thick syrup left after sugar crystals are removed, used to make industrial alcohol.
- Crushing season
The months in which a sugar mill crushes cane.
4. Cotton textile industry
- Mumbai: humid coastal climate; port for machinery and exports; capital of cotton traders; raw cotton from the black-soil cotton belt by rail; cheap labour from the Konkan and Deccan; hydel power from the Western Ghats.
- Ahmedabad (Manchester of India): cotton fields of Gujarat nearby; local merchant capital; cheap labour; large market; ports and railways.
- Other centres: Coimbatore (Manchester of South India), Kanpur, Surat, Solapur, Nagpur, Indore, Madurai, Tiruppur, Kolkata.
- Problems: obsolete machinery; power shortage and cost; competition from synthetic fibres and powerlooms; shortage of long-staple cotton; low productivity; sick mills; foreign competition.
| Centre | Nickname or speciality |
|---|---|
| Mumbai | Cottonopolis |
| Ahmedabad | Manchester of India |
| Coimbatore | Manchester of South India |
| Tiruppur | Knitwear exports |
Key terms
- Cottonopolis of India
A name for Mumbai, the first great centre of cotton mills.
- Long-staple cotton
Cotton with long fibres, used for fine yarn and cloth.
5. Silk textile industry
- Sericulture: rearing silkworms for silk; cocoons are boiled and reeled into raw silk (roughly 8 kg of cocoons per kg of raw silk, illustrative).
- Types: mulberry (mulberry leaves; Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal); tasar (arjun, asan, sal; oak for temperate tasar; Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar); eri (castor; Assam, Meghalaya); muga (golden; som and soalu; Assam only).
- Centres: Bengaluru, Mysuru, Ramanagara (cocoon market); Kanchipuram; Dharmavaram; Varanasi; Bhagalpur (tasar); Sualkuchi (Assam); Murshidabad.
- Karnataka leads in mulberry silk: equable plateau climate lets mulberry grow all year (five or more cocoon crops a year); suitable red loamy soils and irrigation; traditional skills; government support, research and organised cocoon markets.
| Silk | Region |
|---|---|
| Mulberry | Karnataka |
| Tasar | Jharkhand, Bhagalpur |
| Eri | Assam |
| Muga | Assam only |
Key terms
- Sericulture
The rearing of silkworms for the production of silk.
- Muga
A golden silk produced only in Assam.
Exam tips
Common mistakes
- Calling sugar or silk mineral-based.
- Saying sugar mills are located near markets.
- Writing that muga silk is produced in Karnataka.
- Giving only one factor for Mumbai's cotton mills.
How marks are usually awarded
- Location questions: 1 mark per factor explained with its effect.
- Classification: correct basis and correct group.
- Silk: kind of silk with region or food plant.