MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES

Q1. What is manufacturing? what is the importance of manufacturing? OR

Why is manufacturing sector considered the backbone of development in general and
economic development?

Ans. Production of goods in large quantities after processing from raw materials to more
valuable products is called manufacturing.

Importance of manufacturing

• 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 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 finished 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 not exclusive of each other. They move hand in hand.”
Justify.

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

• For example, the agro-based industries have given a major boost to agriculture by
raising its productivity.
• They depend on agriculture for raw materials and sell their products such as
fertilisers, insecticides, irrigation pumps, PVC pipes, machines and tools, etc to the
farmers.
• Thus, development and competitiveness of manufacturing industry has not only
assisted agriculturists in increasing their production but also made production process
very efficient.

Classification of Industries
Agro Based industries

• Cotton, jute, silk, woollen textiles, sugar and edible oil etc. industries are based on
agricultural raw materials.

Textile Industries

• It contributes significantly to industrial production, employment generation and foreign

exchange earnings.
• It is the only industry in the country which is self reliant and complete in the value chain.

Cotton Textiles
• In ancient India cotton textile while produced with hand spinning and Handloom weaving
techniques.
 • 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 demands supports many other industries, such as, chemicals and
dyes, mill stores, packaging materials and engineering works.
• Spinning is mainly practised in Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu.
• Weaving supplies low quality of fabric as it cannot use much of the high quality yarn.
Weaving is done in handloom, power loom and in mills. The handspun Khadi provides
large scale employment to weavers in their homes as a cottage industry.

Jute Textiles

• India is the largest producer of raw jute and jute goods and stands at second place as
an exporter after Bangladesh.
• Most mills are in West Bengal.(Hugli Basin)
• India’s first jute mill was set up at Rishra near Kolkata in 1855.
• Hugli River provides for inexpensive water transport and also for washing jute and jute
related goods. There is good network of railways, roadways and waterways to facilitate
movements of raw materials and labour to the mills. There is an abundant water
supply for processing raw jute.

Sugar Industry

• India is second largest producer of sugar and first largest producer of gur and
khandsari.
• The raw material used is bulky and its sucrose content reduces.
• Mills are mainly located in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,(60%) and Maharashtra.
• In recent years Mills are more concentrated in Maharashtra because the cane
produced here as a higher sucrose content. The cooler climate also ensures a
longer crusing season. Moreover, the cooperatives are more successful in these
states.

Mineral Based Industries(industries which use minerals and metals as raw materials.)

Iron and Steel Industry

• The iron and steel Industry is the basic industry because:

• All the other industries – heavy, medium and light, depend on it for their machinery.
• Steel is needed to manufacture a variety of engineering goods, construction material,
defence, medical, telephonic, scientific equipment and a variety of consumer goods.
 • Iron and steel are heavy industries because all the raw materials, as well as finished
goods are heavy and bulky. It involves heavy transportation costs.
• Iron ore coking coal and limestone are required in the ratio of [Link].
• Manganese is used to harden steel.
• Chhotanagpur Plateau region has the maximum concentration of iron and steel Industries
it is because of low cost of iron ore, high grade raw materials in proximity, cheap labour
and vast growth potential in the home market.

Aluminum Smelting

• It is the second most important metallurgical industry in India, plants located in Odisha
and West Bengal.
• Qualities: light, resistant to corrosion, a good conductor of heat, malleable and becomes
strong when mixed with other metals.
• Use: Manufacture Aircraft, utensils and wires.
• It has gained popularity as a substitute of steel, copper, zinc and lead in a number of
industries.
• Bauxite is a very bulky dark red 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 Industries

• Include inorganic chemicals like sulphuric acid(used as fertilisers), synthetic fibres,

plastic etc.
 • Include organic chemicals like petrochemicals which are used for making synthetic
fibres, plastics, drugs etc. Their plants are located near oil refineries or petrochemical
plants.
• This industry is its own largest consumer.

4-6 tonnes of Bauxite → 2 tonnes of Alumina →1 tonne of

ALUMINIUM.

Fertiliser Industry

• It is responsible for the production of nitrogenous fertilisers, ammonium

phosphate(DAP), Potash etc.
• Potash is entirely imported as India does not have any reserves of commercially
usable potash.
• Gujarat, Tamil Nadu are some example where this industry is prominent.

Cement Industry

• Cement is essential for construction of houses factories bridges roads, etc.

• It requires bulky and heavy raw materials like limestone silica and Gypsum.

Automobile Industry

• Trucks, buses, cars, motorcycles etc, are manufactured in this industry.

• Its industries are mainly located in Delhi, Gurugram etc.
 Information Technology and Electronics Industry

• It manufactures television telephone etc.

• Bengaluru is the electronic capital of India.
• This industry has a major impact on employment generation.
• The continuing growth in the hardware and software is the key to the success of IT
industry in India.

Industrial Pollution and Environmental Degradation

➢ Industries are responsible for 4 types of pollution:
(i) Air (ii) Water (iii) Land (iv) Noise.

Air Pollution

• Air pollution is caused by the presence of high proportion of undesirable

gases, such as sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide.
• Air contains both solid and liquid particles like dust and smoke.
• Smoke is emitted by chemical factories, brick factories, refineries and by
burning of fossil fuels in factories that ignore pollution norms.
• Air pollution affects human health, plants and animals, buildings and the
atmosphere.
Water Pollution

• Water pollution is caused by organic and inorganic industrial wastes

discharged into rivers.
• These wastes contain paper, pulp, chemicals, textile and dyeing,
petroleum refineries, and electroplating industries which let out dyes,
detergents, acids, heavy metals like lead and mercury, pesticides,
fertilisers, carbon, plastic, and rubber into the water bodies.
• Fly ash, phospo-gypsum and Iron-Steel slags are the major solid
wastes in India.
• Thermal Pollution of water occurs when hot water from factories and
thermal plants is drained into rivers before cooling, which in result affects
the aquatic life.
 Question: “Soil and Water pollution are closely related.” Explain.
Ans.: Dumping of wastes specially glass, harmful chemicals, industrial
effluents, packaging, salts and garbage renders the soil useless. Rain water
percolates to the soil carrying the pollutants to the ground and the ground
water also gets contaminated.
Noise Pollution

• It results in irritation and anger, causes heating impairment, increased

heart rate and blood pressure along with other psychological effects.
• Unwanted sound is an irritant and causes stress.
• Industrial and construction activities, machinery, factory equipment,
generators and electric drills cause noise pollution.

Control of Environmental Degradation

❖ Every litre of waste water discharged by industries pollutes 8 times the quantity of
freshwater.

Question: How can industrial pollution of water be reduced?

Ans. Some suggestions are:

(i) Minimising water use for processing by reusing and recycling it into two or more
stages.
(ii) Harvesting of rainwater for water requirements.
(iii) Treating hot water and effluents before releasing them in rivers.
This can be done in three phases:
(a) Primary treatment by mechanical means. This involves screening, grinding,
flocculation, and sedimentation.
(b) Secondary treatment by biological process.
(c) Tertiary treatment by biological, chemical and physical processes. This involves
recycling of wastewater.

Question: What are the steps which should be taken to minimise environmental
degradation by industry?

Ans. • Overdrawing of ground water reserves by industry where there is a threat to ground
water resources needs to be regulated legally.
 • Particulate matter in the air can be reduced by fitting smoke stocks to factories with
electrostatic precipitators, fabric filters, scrubbers and inertial separators.
• Smoke can be reduced by using oil or gas instead of coal in factories.
• Machinery and equipment can be used and generators should be fitted with silencers.
• Almost all machinery can be redesigned to increase energy efficiency and reduce noise.
Noise absorbing material can be used.

NTPC(National Thermal Power Corporation)

• It is a major power providing corporation in India.

• This corporation has a concerned approach for preserving the environment and resources
in the places where it is setting up power plants.
• It does so by following some principles:
(a) Optimal equipment usage is possible by using the latest technology and by
upgrading the existing ones.
(b) Waste production can be reduced by maximizing ash utilisation.
(c) Special purpose vehicles can be used to provide green belts for ecological
balance and afforestation.
(d) Pollution can be reduced by ash pond management, ash water recycling, and
liquid waste management.
(e) Managing Ecological monitoring, reviews, and online databases for all its
power stations.