Factors Affecting Location of Industries
Raw Material, Labour, Water, Land, Market, Capital, Power and Transport are important factors that affect the industries’ location. A place where few or all of these factors are easily found – industries are usually established at such places. When industries are established in different backward regions, the government provides different incentives such as establishment of infrastructure, transport costs at low amounts and subsidized power. The reason for growth and development of several cities and towns can be attributed to the process of Industrialization.
Industrial System
When a number of industries producing different products are located close to each other, Industrial Regions emerge. These regions share the benefit of their closeness. Central, Eastern and Western Europe, Eastern Asia and North America are the examples of few of the major industrial regions across the globe. Few of the industrial regions are located near sea ports, some kind of temperate areas and most importantly some coal fields.
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Some of the industrial regions that exist in our country are Kollam – Trivandrum industrial clustre, Hugli region, Pune – Mumbai industrial clustre, Ahmedabad – Baroda region, Delhi – Gurgaon – Meerut region and the industrial belt of Chhota Nagpur.
Industrial Disasters
Several industries have seen disasters or accidents which have occurred due to some technical failure or Hazardous materials being handled in an irresponsible manner.
Bhopal Gas Tragedy is one of the worst industrial disasters of all times that has occurred in our country. On Dec 3, 1984, at around 12:30 am in the middle of the midnight this incident occurred. Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) which is a highly poisonous gas along with Hydrogen Cyanide and other products of reaction had leaked that night from the pesticide factory which was owned by Union Carbide India Limited. In 1989, the official death toll due to this incident was 3598. Thousands of others who managed to survive ended up suffering from other serious health complications such as gastrointestinal disorders, blindness, immune system issues, children born with deformed body structures among others.
Another similar accident took place in Gao Qiao which is located in Chongqing province of China. A blow out had occurred in a gas well located in an industrial region on December 23, 2005. Due to this accident, 243 people were declared dead, and 9000 got injured. The authorities had to evacuate over 64,000 people. Reports state that a large number of people were dead simply because as soon as the explosion took place, they were unable to escape immediately. These victims who did not get a chance to escape ended up suffering from burn injuries to their lungs, skin and eyes caused due to gases.
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Distribution of Major Industries
The Information Technology (IT) industry, Textile Industry and Steel and iron industry are some of the major industries found in this world. The IT industry is an industry which is still emerging while the Textile Industry along with the Iron and Steel Industry are some of the major industries which have been going strong since ancient times.
Russia, Germany, China, USA and Japan are some of the countries where the iron and steel industry are found on a major scale. India, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong are the countries where the textile industry is located. South California’s Silicon Valley and India’s Bangalore area are major hubs of the IT industry.
Those industries which are still emerging are sometimes called ‘Emerging Industries.’ Hospitality, Wellness, Knowledge, and IT are examples of such industries.The countries in which the iron and steel industry is located are Germany, USA, China, Japan and Russia.
Textile industry is concentrated in India, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. The major hubs of the Information technology industry are the Silicon valley of Central California and the Bangalore region of India.
Iron and Steel Industry
All other industries consist of different inputs, processes and outputs. Same is the case with the Iron and Steel Industry. It is termed as the ‘Feeder Industry.’ This is so because the products of this industry are used as raw materials for various different industries.
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Raw materials like limestone, iron ore, and coal when combined with capital, labour, site, capital along with other infrastructures are the required inputs for this industry. There are various stages involved through which iron ore gets converted into steel. In the first step, the workers put the raw materials into a blast furnace from where it undergoes the process of smelting. Smelting is a process where workers extract metals from the ores and heat the metal beyond its melting point. After this, they refine it. The output or the final product obtained by this process is steel. It is used by several other industries in the form of raw material.
Steel is considered tough. One can easily cut it, give it shape or mold it into a wire. In order to make special alloys of steel, other metals in small amounts are added to it. These metals could be copper, aluminium or nickel. With the help of alloys, steel becomes hard, tough and its ability to resist rust.
Steel is considered as the backbone of the 21st century industry. Almost all the things that we either use or see getting used around us is manufactured from either steel or iron. All the machinery and tools comprises these metals as their main component. Even the tiniest of things that we use in our daily lives such as needles and safety pins are also made up of these. Steel is used as a main component in order to manufacture trains, autos, ships and trucks. With the help of steel machinery, the workers frill up oil wells. Steel equipment is used to mine different types of minerals. Most of the time steel is used to manufacture farm machines. Frameworks made up of steel form the main part of a large number of buildings.
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Before the 1800 AD steel and iron industry were largely located at places where the manufacturers could easily get power supply, running water and raw materials. After some time, the coal fields were chosen to be the ideal location for these industries. The other areas were places nearer to railways and canals. Post 1950, steel and iron industry were located on flat lands which were large in size and led near the sea ports. It happened so because by that time the work of steel had increased both in size and quantity and the manufacturers needed to import iron ore from overseas.
Steel and Iron industry in our country has developed a lot in the last couple of centuries. It is all due to availability of cheap material, market, transport and raw materials in high numbers. Few of the important centres that produce steel in India are Rourkela, Durgapur, Bhilai, Bokaro, Jamshedpur and Burnpur. These centres are situated in a region which consists of four states of our country which are Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand. Some of the other important steel centres in our country that are utilising the natural resources available locally are Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, Vijay Nagar and Bhadravati in Karnataka, and Salem in Tamilnadu.
Jamshedpur
Before our country got independence in 1947, we had only one steel plant – Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (TISCO). The company was privately owned earlier. Once India got independence in 1947, the Indian Government undertook several initiatives after which a number of iron and steel plants were set up. It was in 1907 when TISCO was set up at Sakchi. It is a place which is located on the confluence of the rivers Kharkai and Subarnarekha in the state of Jharkhand. Jamshedpur is the new name of Sakchi. Geographically Jamshedpur is located at a place where steel and iron industry can be easily located.
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The authorities had several reasons in mind when they chose to set up the iron and steel plant at Sakchi. The place was located 32 km far off from Kalimati station which lies on the Bengal & Nagpur railway line. With this location, the place was close to manganese, iron ore and coal deposits along with Kolkata which was considered as a large market during that time. TISCO is provided with dolomite, limestone and manganese from Chhattisgarh and Odisha, coal from the coalfields of Jharia in Jharkhand. Sufficient amount of water supply was ensured from the rivers such as Subarnarekha and Kharkai on whose bank the place lies. For the later developments of TISCO, the Government of India introduced several initiatives. Under this, capital in an
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adequate amount was provided.
After the country got independence in 1947, the Government set up several other industrial plants after the success of the TISCO project. These industrial plants are responsible for producing chemicals, wires, equipment of agriculture, parts of locomotives, machinery, and cable.
As the Steel and Iron industry in India developed at a rapid rate, it played a key role in opening the doors of Industrial development in our country. Almost every sector that falls under Indian Industry is dependent heavily on the Iron and Steel industry in order to get raw materials and also for the requirement of their basic infrastructure. The Iron and Steel industry of India comprises of mini steel mills along with large integrated steel plants. Ancillary industries, Secondary producers, and rolling mills are also included in this list.
Pittsburgh
In the United States of America (USA) this city is an important steel city. The city has a huge steel industry which enjoys various advantages due to its location. Pittsburgh has local availability of raw materials like coal. Other minerals such as Iron are brought from the iron ores of Minnesota which is located 1500 km away from this city. Apart from that between Pittsburgh and these mines the very famous Great Lakes Waterway is located. This route is considered as one of the best routes in order to ship the iron ores in a cheap manner. The ore is carried by trains from the Great lakes towards the Industrial units located in Pittsburgh city. Adequate water supply is ensured by rivers such as the Ohio, the Allegheny and the Monogahela.
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Nowadays, very few large steel mills are located in this city itself. Most of these are now located in the valley regions of Allegheny and Monongahela rivers which are located above Pittsburgh. The Ohio river flows below the city. The manufacturers then transport the finished steel with the help of both water and land routes to the market.
Apart from the Steel Mills, one can easily spot other industrial units in Pittsburgh as well. All these industries have one thing in common – they use steel as their raw material. With this other products such as railway equipment and heavy machinery is manufactured.
Cotton Textile Industry
The process of artisans weaving cloth from the yarn is considered as an ancient form of art. Flax, cotton, silk, jute and wool have been in use since ancient times in order to make clothes. On the basis of raw materials that are being used, we identify the textile industry. Fibers can be either natural or man made. One can obtain natural fibers from jute, silk, cotton, linen and wool. Nylon, acrylic, rayon and polyester are few of the examples of man made fibers.
This industry is often described as one of the world’s oldest industries. Until the industrial revolution took place during the 18th century, looms along with hand spinning techniques or wheels were in use so that the cotton textile industry could develop. It developed firstly in Britain and then later on in the world’s other different countries. Some of the important countries that are famous for their cotton textile industry in the world today are the USA, Japan, China and India.
India has always been famous for having a glorious tradition for producing cotton textiles which are of high quality. Before the British started ruling our country, we had hand woven and hand spun clothes whose market was really wide. The Calicos of Calicut, Muslins of Dhaka, Gold wrought cotton from Vadodara, Surat and Burhanpur and Chintzes of Masulipatnam were famous all over the world for their quality as well as design. However, the textile workers of that era found it time consuming and expensive while weaving the cotton textiles with their hands. Due to this, India’s traditional cotton textile industry was unable to match up with competition that the newly launched textile mills of Western countries. These modern mills were responsible for producing the fabrics of good and cheap quality through the industrial units which were mechanised in nature.
In our country, the first textile mill had been established at Fort Gloster (which is near present Kolkata) in the year 1818. However, it had to close down soon. In 1854, the country saw its first textile mill being established in Mumbai which was both mechanized as well as successful. The region offered moist and warm climate, a port so that machines could be imported, and there was the availability of skilled labour as well as raw material.
Gujarat and Maharashtra were the states where the cotton textile industry initially flourished. These states are known for their favorable humid climate. However, nowadays it is possible to create humid artificially, raw cotton doesn’t lose its weight easily, and is considered as pure. Due to all these features, now this industry has spread to other parts of our country as well. Panipat, Kanpur, Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, Ludhiana, Kolkata and Puducherry are the important sectors of this industry.
Ahmedabad
This city lies on the banks of Sabarmati river in the state of Gujarat. The city saw its first mill being established in 1859. After Mumbai, the city was considered the second largest centre of the cotton textile industry. Hence, it was always referred to as ‘Manchestor of India.’ The textile industry was able to develop in this city as it offered a favourable location for the same. The city lies in close proximity with those regions which are responsible for producing cotton in India. Due to this, the raw material is easily available. The climate of this place is best for weaving as well as spinning. The states of Maharashtra and Gujarat are densely populated. Due to this, skilled and semi – skilled labourers are easily available. The railway and road network of this region are also well developed. Due to this, it becomes easy to transport textile to different parts of India. Hence, this market has become easily accessible. The nearest port in Mumbai has made the import of machinery and export of cotton textiles easier as compared to earlier times.
However, in recent years the textile mills of the city have been facing several issues. A number of textile mills have closed down. It is mainly due to this fact that several new textile centres have started emerging in this country. Also, the mills of Ahmedabad have seen upgradation of technology as well as machines.
Osaka
The city is known as ‘Manchester of Japan’ and is the country’s main textile centre. A number of geographical factors were responsible for the development of the textile industry in Osaka. The place has a plain area in extensive amounts. This ensured that land was easily available to develop these cotton mills. The city lies on the banks of the river Yodo. It ensures the supply of water in an extensive amount so that these mills could develop. The availability of labour is cheap as well. There are several ports located in this area due to which textiles are exported and raw materials are imported. The city imports raw materials from countries such as India, USA, China and Egypt. Once the product gets finished, it is exported at really low prices.
In recent years, Osaka’s textile industry has seen a decline. Various other industries such as automobile, steel and iron, cement, machinery, ship building and electrical equipment have taken over the city.
Questions and Answers
- Answer the following questions.
(i) What is meant by the term ‘industry’?
Answer. The economic activity which involves the extraction of minerals, producing different goods, and provides services is known as Industry.
(ii) Which are the main factors which influence the location of an industry?
Answer. Following are the factors which affect the location of an industry:
- Water
- Raw material
- Land
- Labour
- Transport
- Power
- Capital
- Market
(iii) Which industry is often referred to as the backbone of modern industry and why?
Answer. ‘Iron and steel industry’ is often referred to as the backbone of modern industry. It is so because the products of this industry are used in the form of raw materials in other industries.
(iv) Why did the cotton textile industry rapidly expand in Mumbai?
Answer. Mumbai offered several favorable conditions that were present in this region for the same. The region had warm and moist climate, raw materials and labour were easily available, machines could be imported easily and it was easy to export final products.
2. Tick the correct answer.
(i) Fort Gloster is located in
(a) West Bengal
(b) California
(c) Gujarat
Answer. West Bengal
(ii) Which one of the following is a natural fiber?
(a) Nylon
(b) Jute
(c) Acrylic
Answer: Jute
3. Distinguish between the following.
(i) Agro-based and mineral based industry
| S.no | Agro – Based Industry | Mineral – Based Industry |
| 1. | The raw materials of this industry are based on the products of animals and plants. | The ores of minerals are used in the form of raw materials |
| 2. | Example: Animal hides, crops | Example: Limestone, Ores of Iron |
| 3. | Food processing and leather industry are examples of such industries. | Steel and Iron industry are examples of such industry. |
(ii) Public sector and joint sector industry
| S.no. | Public Sector Industry | Joint Sector Industry |
| 1. | Government owns and runs this industry. | State along with individuals run and own these industries. |
| 2. | Example: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited | Example: Maruti Udyog Ltd. |
4. Give two examples of the following in the space provided :
(i) Raw Materials: _____________ and _____________________
(ii) End products: _______________ and _________________________
(iii) Tertiary Activities: ________________ and __________
(iv) Agro-based Industries: ____________ and ____________
(v) Cottage Industries: ___________ and ________________
(vi) Co-operatives: ______________________ and _____________
Answer:
(i) Plants, Ores
(ii) vehicle, wearable clothes
(iii) banking, trade
(iv) Leather Industry and Food Processing
(v) SUDHA Industry, AMUL
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