Manufacturing Industries
Mineral-based and modern industries
Explain the location of mineral-based and modern industries.
Iron and steel: the basic industry. Every other industry, heavy, medium or light, needs steel for its machines. Steel goes into engineering goods, buildings, defence, medical and scientific equipment and many everyday goods. How much steel a country makes and uses is seen as a sign of its development.
- It is a heavy industry: raw materials and products are heavy and bulky, so transport costs are high.
- Raw materials: iron ore, coking coal and limestone in the ratio of about 4 : 2 : 1, plus some manganese to harden the steel.
- The Chhotanagpur plateau has the most steel plants: cheap iron ore, high-grade raw materials close by, cheap labour and a big home market.
Aluminium smelting. The second most important metal industry in India. Aluminium is light, does not rust, conducts heat, is easy to shape and becomes strong when mixed with other metals. It is used for aircraft, utensils and wires, and often replaces steel, copper, zinc and lead. Its raw material is bauxite, a bulky, dark reddish rock. Plants need two things above all: regular electricity and cheap, assured bauxite. They are in Odisha, West Bengal, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
Chemicals. A fast-growing industry, with large and small units.
- Inorganic chemicals: sulphuric acid (for fertilisers, synthetic fibres, plastics, paints), nitric acid, alkalis, soda ash (for glass, soap, detergents, paper) and caustic soda. Made all over the country.
- Organic chemicals (petrochemicals): for synthetic fibres and rubber, plastics, dyes and medicines. Made near oil refineries.
The chemical industry is its own biggest customer: one chemical is used to make the next.
Fertilisers and cement.
- Fertilisers: mainly urea (nitrogen), phosphate fertilisers, DAP, and complex fertilisers with nitrogen (N), phosphate (P) and potash (K). All potash is imported, because India has no usable reserves. After the Green Revolution the industry spread; Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Kerala make about half.
- Cement: needed for houses, factories, bridges, roads, airports and dams. It uses bulky limestone, silica and gypsum, plus coal, electricity and railways. The first plant opened in Chennai in 1904. Plants in Gujarat are well placed to sell to the Gulf countries.
Vehicles and electronics.
- Automobiles: after liberalisation, new models came in and demand for cars, two-wheelers and three-wheelers grew fast. Centres include Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore, Hyderabad, Jamshedpur and Bengaluru.
- IT and electronics: from TVs and phones to radars and computers. Bengaluru is the electronic capital of India; Noida, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune are big centres too. The industry's biggest effect has been creating jobs.
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