Major Industries and Location- Geography Guide for Class 8
Information about Major Industries and Location
Title | Major Industries and Location |
Class | Class 8 |
Subject | Class 8 Geography |
Topics Covered |
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Factors influencing Location of Industry
Each industry has different needs related to its raw materials, power, transportation, capital, manufacturing process, skilled personnel including distance to the trading centre. Hence, the location of an industry depends on those factors which have a bearing on its efficient running and profitability both. Usually, an industry is located at a place where it gets easy resources, skilled manpower and lower investment cost and, therefore, generates maximum profitability. Hence, a lot of planning is involved before establishing an industrial unit in a specific locality.
The factors affecting location of an industry are classified into two groups
- geographical factors
- non-geographical factors.
- Geographical factors: These include land, climate, availability of raw materials, means of power in order to reach the market and also the sources where raw materials are available.
- Non-geographical factors: These include government policies, capital, management, banking, labour and developed means of transport and insurance, and above all, personal preferences of the owners of the industry.
Industries tend to be located at places where favourable factors over-weigh the unfavourable factors. We have learnt that an industry needs sound infrastructure, well-developed means of transport, strong financial banking, wider market and favourable government policies, apart from other basic geographical factors. It has also been observed that in order to take advantage of these favourable factors, other industries also get attracted to that region making it a cluster of industrial units which lays down the formation of an industrial region.
The examples of such prominent industrial regions in the world are:
- Eastern region of North America
- Silicon Valley of North America
- Western and Central Europe
- Eastern Asia
- Southern and South-eastern Asia
- Gulf region of Western Asia
- Western and Southern Africa
- Eastern region of South America
In India, the industries are unevenly distributed depending upon the range and availability of natural resources as well as location of trading centres. Industrial regions in India are grouped as:
- Mumbai-Pune region
- Hugli region
- Bengaluru-Tamil Nadu region
- Gujarat (Ahmedabad-Vadodara-Surat) region
- Chotanagpur region
- Gurgaon-Delhi-Meerut region
- Vishakhapatnam-Guntur region
- Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram region.
Some Major Industries of the World
1. Iron and Steel Industry
Iron and steel industry is the backbone of modern civilisation. It provides industrial base for the manufacture of many other industrial products, and thus, is known as the basic industry.
Iron ore occurs in abundance in many parts of the world. It is estimated that 65% machines and utensils are made of steel. The iron and steel industry is widely distributed in the world. In the USA, Alabama state, the Atlantic coast and the Great Lakes region are the main producers. In Europe, it is well-distributed in France, Germany, Italy (Western Europe), UK and the Ural mountain region in Russia. China, India and Japan are other major producers of iron and steel in Asia.
The art of manufacturing iron and steel is believed to be known to India over a thousand years before Chirst. The rust free iron pillar at Qutab Minar in Delhi is a standing proof of the quality of the iron produced in this country. The first modern iron and steel industry was established in 1907, when Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) was set-up at Sakchi (Jamshedur), now in Jharkhand state. At present, India has 10 major integrated steel Plants and 180 minor steel plants spread all over the country. Besides TISCO at Jamshedpur, the other 'mportant steel manufacturing centres are Indian Iron and Steel Company (IISCO) at Burnpur in West Bengal. Three steel plants in the public sector are at Bhilai in Chhattisgarh, Rourkela in Odisha and Durgapur in West Bengal. These are under the management of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), an undertaking of the Government of India. Numerous other major and minor steel plants are spread all over peninsular India, which is known for its large reserves of iron ore, coal and limestone. They i are the essential raw materials used in the manufacturing of iron and steel industries.- Presence of favourable factors like availability of raw material, thermal power, cheap labour and proximity to the big markets make peninsular India an ideal region for the concentration of large number of iron and steel industries.
Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO), Jamshedpur
TISCO was established at Jamshedpur nearly over a hundred years ago by Sir Jamshedji Tata. It had a fascinating beginning as it led to founding of a new city by the Late Jamshedji Nusserwanji Tata at Sakchi which was named later as Jamshedpur. It is located in Singhbhum district of Jharkhand state. This city enjoys advantageous location as it is surrounded by beautiful Dalma hills of the Chotanagpur plateau and Subernarekha and Kharkai rivers. These rivers provide abundant water supply to the plant for its various activities. The areas surrounding Jamshedpur are rich in minerals, like coking coal from Jharia and iron ore, limestone and manganese from Jamadoba, Noamundi and West Bokaro. It has its own thermal electricity plant and the region is served by good road-rail network and is within easy reach of Kolkata port.
Jamshedpur now serves as a major industrial city with a large range of industries located here like truck manufacturing, tin plates, iron sheets, locomotives, rails, wheels and sleepers for railways, besides manufacturing iron and steel on a large scale. It employs a large number of people and thus, generates wealth through manufacturing activities in the region.
2. Cotton Textile Industry
The word, 'textile', is derived from a Latin word texere meaning 'to weave'. It is used broadly for cotton fibre, yarn, jute and synthetic fibres. The textile manufacturing is one of the oldest, diverse and most widespread industries in the world. Despite the widespread mechanisation of textile and garment making, a large part of textile products are still made by hand spinners and hand weavers in many parts of the world.
The modern mechanised textile industry was first developed in Britain (UK). Later, it was spread to China, Europe, India, Korea, Thailand, United States and the rest of the world. The textile industries in the world are usually located where power and labour supplies are in abundance. At global level, Bangladesh, China, India, Japan, Korea, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States and many countries of Europe are important producers of textile products and export them to different countries of the world.
India has an ancient tradition of producing cotton textiles. The hand woven cloth was reported to be manufactured during the period of Indus Valley Civilisation in India. Today, the cotton textile is the largest industry in India. It gives employment to over 35 million persons, which means 20% of industrial labour is absorbed in this industry.
Now, let us compare the cotton industry of Japan and India.
Comparative Study of Osaka (Japan) and Ahmedabad (India): Centres of Textile Industry
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Osaka (Japan) |
Ahmedabad (India) |
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Source of water supply |
River Yodo |
River Sabarmati |
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Source of raw material (cotton) |
Imports cotton Egypt and USA from China |
Gujarat |
In early years, most of the cotton textile mills were located in Gujarat and Maharashtra. Availability of cotton, humid climate, proximity to market and developed means of transport have contributed towards spread of this industry to over 80 towns and cities of India. Some important centres in India are Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodrara in Gujarat; Gwalior, Indore and Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh; Mumbai, Pune and Sholapur in Maharashtra; Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai in Tamil Nadu; Agra, Kanpur, Modinagar and Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, and Haora and Murshidabad in West Bengal.
Cotton Textile Industry, Ahmedabad
Gujarat is one of the leading industrial states in India, and textile industry, in particular, has contributed in a big way to the industrialisation of this state.
The state is well-known for its power-looms spinning, weaving and silk dyeing mills spread all over the state. Ahmedabad used to be called the Manchester of India because of the concentration of a large number of cotton textile mills. It is the second largest textile industrial centre after Mumbai. It is located on the bank of River Sabarmati in Gujarat.
The city is situated in the heart of the cotton growing belt and has warm and humid climate which is favourable for spinning and weaving. It has large domestic market and both skilled and unskilled labour is readily available. The proximity to the nearby Kandla sea port favours large concentration of textile mills in and around the town. Today, the city has over 60 mills, noted for its superior quality cotton textile. However, many units are falling sick because of old machinery, low capital available for replacement of these machines and lack of fiscal incentives from the state government.
3. Information Technology
There has been a fast development in communication system through telephone, telegraph, radio, fax and computers which connect people all over the world and facilitate communication. This has made exchange of information very fast and revolutionised the entire world. We can also store information in computers and related electronic equipments and retrieve it in no time. This entire system comes under Information Technology (IT). It also includes services that the IT industry can provide to people using sophisticated equipments/devices/technologies. At present, BPO (Business Process Outsource) has become popular to reduce overhead cost on production and provide faster services in any part of the world.
The history of IT services began with the development of a digital electronic computer in the USA in 1946 for defence purposes. This led to the development of semi-conductor chips, and their application later in tele-communication equipments and computers led to a boom in IT sector.
- A semi-conductor is a solid-state device which regulates the flow of electricity, boosts and amplifies the electrical signals received.
Thus, computers are made of thousands of such semi-conductor chips which process, store and dessiminate information. In India, the IT industry was established around 1984 through the development of digital micro-electronic devices. This improved the tele-communication system in the country and in the last two decades it has grown tremendously. Now, India exports electronic goods worth millions. This industry is growing so fast that it is providing employment to 10 million people. Several cities like Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, etc., have become important centres of this industry. With the rapid development of IT industry, India has emerged as one of the leading players of IT sector in the world.
Now, let us compare the IT Industries of USA and India.
Comparative Study of Silicon Valley (USA) and Bengaluru (India)—the major hubs of Information Technology Industry
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Silicon Valley (USA) |
Bengaluru (India) |
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Location |
California |
Karnataka |
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Type of Labour |
Worldwide |
Indigenous |
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Technical staff |
Worldwide |
Indigenous |
Information Technology, Bengaluru: Bengaluru is the capital city of Karnataka. After independence, the city has emerged as a major centre of engineering education and consequently, has developed into a manufacturing centre of wide range of products like machine tools, scientific equipments, aircrafts, electric motors, textile machinery and many other important products. The emergence of software production in India first started in and around Bengaluru. By now, many Multi-National Corporations, especially computer hardware and software giants, have established their units in Bengaluru. This city has recently emerged as one of the leading centres of information technology in the world.
Today, the city of Bengaluru is called The Silicon Valley of India. This reflects its unique position in this hi-tech global industry. A large pool of well-qualified and relatively low cost scientific and technical personnel, proficient in English, represent the ideal work force at Bengaluru which has made it competitive in global economy. An ambient climate throughout the year, good infrastructure and communication network, besides a host of social and cultural amenities make Bengaluru an attractive location for the employment of multi-national software professionals.
The software technology park in Bengaluru was started with a handful of companies in the year 1991; it grew to 183 registered units by 1998, and rose to over 200 units in the city by the year 2001. This cluster of units consists of small, medium and large companies including foreign firms, such as Motorola, Indian owned ones, such as Infosys and Wipro and Joint ventures, such as PSI data system. Thus, in the IT arena, Bengaluru has witnessed rapid growth and has earned international recognition.