Classification of Industries in India
On the basis of raw materials and finished products, industries are classified as:-
- Source of raw materials used
- According to their main role
- Capital investment
- Ownership
- Finished goods
1. Agro-based industries:- Industries that use agricultural raw materials such as – Cotton, jute, silk, woolen textiles, sugar and edible oil, etc. Under Agro industries we have cotton, jute and sugar industry.
Cotton textiles:-
- Traditional industry with hand spinning and handloom weaving techniques.
- Suffered a setback during the colonial period.
- Today, there are nearly 1600 cotton and human made fibre textile mills in the country.
- 80 per cent of these are in the private sector and the rest in the public and cooperative sectors.
- Early years, they were located near Maharashtra and Gujarat
- Availability of raw cotton, market, transport including port facilities, labor, moist climate.
- This industry has close links with agriculture & provides employment
- It also supports other industries like chemicals industries, mills, packaging materials and engineering works.
- India exports to Japan, U.S.A., U.K., Russia, France, East European countries, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and African countries.
- Problems faced by cotton textiles:- Low output of labour, stiff competition with the synthetic fibre industry, lack of technology and machinery and poor power supply.
Jute textiles:-
- India is the 2nd largest producer of raw jute after Bangladesh.
- It is an important fibre after cotton.
- Most of the jute mills are located in West Bengal, mainly along the banks of the river Hugli.
- Government intervention with policy like mandatory use of jute packaging.
- Government also launched National Jute Policy In 2005 for ensuring increasing productivity, improving quality, ensuring good prices.
- Jute is environment friendly meaning they are biodegradable materials.
- Jute from India is exported to countries like U.S.A., Canada, Russia, Egypt, Iraq, U.K. and Australia.
Sugar industry:-
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India stands 2nd as a world producer of sugar but occupies the 1st place in the production of gur and khandsari.
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Sugar largely contains sucrose, during transportation the sucrose content reduces.
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Found in the regions of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.
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60% sugar mills in India are located in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
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Sugar industry is ideally suited for co-operative sector.
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In recent times, the sugar industry is shifting its concentration from the belts of UP & Bihar to Southern and Western states especially Maharashtra.
2. Mineral based industries:- Industries that use minerals and metals as raw materials they are called mineral based industries.
Iron and steel industry:-
- It is a basic industry since all the other industries depend on it for machinery.
- Steel is needed for engineering goods, construction material, defence, medical, telephonic, scientific equipment and a variety of consumer goods.
- Iron and steel is a heavy industry because all the raw materials as well as finished goods are heavy.
- Iron ore, coking coal and limestone are required in the ratio of approximately 4 : 2 : 1 to make steel harder.
- Today with 91.46 million tons of total finished steel products and 9.7 million tons of raw pig iron, India ranks 3rd after Japan and China.
- Chota-nagpur plateau region has the maximum concentration of iron and steel industries.
- All PSU market their steel through, Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) while TISCO markets its produce through Tata Steel.
- Liberalization and Foreign Direct Investment have given a boost to the iron & steel industry.
Aluminium smelting:-
- Aluminium smelting is the process of extracting Aluminium from its oxide, alumina. It requires a lot of heating and melting processes.
- Aluminium smelting is the second most important metallurgical industry in India.
- Aluminium is light, resistant to corrosion, a good conductor of heat, malleable and becomes strong when mixed with other metals.
- It is used in the manufacture of aircrafts, utensils and wires. It is a substitute of steel, copper, zinc and lead in many industries.
- Aluminium smelting plants in India are located in the states of Odisha, West Bengal, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
- Aluminium is extracted from Bauxite, it is a dark reddish colored rock.
- Regular supply of electricity and an assured source of raw material at minimum cost are the two prime factors for location of the industry.
Chemical industry:-
- The Chemical industry in India is fast growing and diversifying.
- Basic chemicals undergo processing to further produce other chemicals that are used for industrial application, agriculture or directly for consumer markets.
- Today the Indian chemical industry is a critical part of the Indian economy. The industry contributes approximately 6% to the country’s total GDP.
- Today India is the third largest producer of chemicals in Asia and occupies the 6th place in the world.
- As we know chemistry is divided into organic and inorganic chemistry. Organic chemicals are those chemicals that have at least one carbon atom as its base. Petrochemicals, polymers, soaps detergent are fine example of an organic chemical. Inorganic chemicals are those chemical that have compounds other than carbon like acids bases salts etc.
- Inorganic chemical industry is widely spread in our country.
- Industries like, fertilizers, synthetic fibres, plastics, adhesives, paints, dyes, glass, soaps and detergents, paper) and caustic soda they are dependent on inorganic chemical industry.
fertilizer industry:-
- India is an agrarian country and agriculture depends a lot on fertilizers.
- So the entire fertilizer industry is based around the production of nitrogen (N), phosphate (P), and potash (K).
- Potash is entirely imported as India does not have any reserves of commercially usable potash or potassium compounds in any form. So we totally depend on foreign market for potash.
- India is the third largest producer of nitrogenous fertilizers.
- Fertilizer industry in India is spread in the regions of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Bihar, Maharashtra, Assam, West Bengal, Goa, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.
Cement industry:-
- Cement is essential for construction activity such as building houses, factories, bridges, roads, airports, dams and for other commercial establishments.
- This industry requires bulky and heavy raw materials like limestone, silica, alumina and gypsum.
- The first cement plant was set up in Chennai in 1904. After Independence the industry expanded.
- India exports readily available cements to the markets in East Asia, Middle East, Africa and South Asia.
- This industry is doing well in terms of production as well as export.
3. Automobile industry:-
- Automobiles provide vehicle for quick transport of good services and passengers.
- India manufactures Trucks, buses, cars, motor cycles, scooters, three-wheeler and multi-utility vehicles at various centers.
- The demand of vehicles has increased after 1991 economic liberalization, that’s when the Indian market opened up to the foreign markets for conducting businesses.
- Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) brought in new technology and aligned the industry with global developments.
- Automobile industry in India is located around Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore, Hyderabad, Jamshedpur and Bangalore.
4. Information technology and electronics industry:-
- The electronics industry covers a wide range of products and equipment required by the telecommunication industry.
- Important centers for electronic goods are Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow and Coimbatore. Bangalore has emerged as the electronic capital of India.
- In India, we have technology parks that provide high data communication facility.
- A major impact of this industry has been on employment.
- This industry has been a major foreign exchange earner.
- In the IT sector, Business Processes Outsourcing sector commonly referred to as BPO is major reason behind the success of the Indian IT industry.