Industry in India

28 min read

Contents

INTRODUCTION #

India started her quest for industrial development after independence in 1947.There has been many industrial policies in the country since that time, the latest being the New Industrial Policy of 1991. With three-fourths of India’s population residing in rural areas, 60% of the labour force constitutes agricul- tural industry. The remaining 23% is in services and 17% is in industry. Some of the important industries are textiles, steel, food processing, cement, fertilizer and machinery.

TEXTILE INDUSTRY #

Cotton-Textile Industry #

It in the largest organized modern industry of the country and provides 2nd largest employment after Railways. Though the first modern textile mill was started at Fort Gloster (Howrah) in 1818 but it could not survive. The real beginning of the industry goes back to 1854 in Mumbai. Earlier it was heavily concentrated in cotton growing region due to infrastructural facilities but later it started to disperse to the market region since the raw cotton is neither weight losing nor weight gaining. Still it is mostly concentrated in the cotton providing region.

On modern pattern, first mill come up in 1854 in Mumbai and later on in Ahmedabad. These two centers are virtually having one-fifth of total cotton mills even today the underlying factors are:

Mumbai, being a port facility was connected with the hinterland and as well as world mar- ket.
Located in the heartland of cotton growing area,
Cheap labour in nearby Konkan belt

Natural humid climate of Mumbai has been of special advantage.
Local Parsi and Bhatia merchant’s financial condition and their considerable experience in business matters.

Maharashtra, Gujarat, M.P., U.P., West Bengal and Tamil Nadu are leading in cotton textile pro- duction.

Maharashtra is the largest producing state – 122 mills in the organized sector out of which 59 are only in Mumbai. Mumbai is known as cottonpolis of India or Manchester of India.. The factories have the advantage of local cotton, cheap and easily available hydel power, nearness of Mumbai ports help in import of raw materials and machines and simultaneously in export of finished products. Mum- bai, Akola, Amravati, Sholapur, Kolhapur, Jalgaon, Hubli, Pune, Nagpur, Billmiori are notable centres.

Gujarat ranks second in production. There are the numbers of mills, 130 out of which 70 lies only in the Ahmedabad. Surat, Bhavnagar, Rajkot and Vadodara are other notable centers. Location in the cotton belt, cheap labour, and capital availability are main factors of location of a number of cotton textile industries.

West Bengal: Kolkata is the most important center. There are 45 mills in the districts of Chaubis Pargana, Hooghly and Howrah districts. Howrah has 14 and Srirampore has 10 mills. Port facility, cheap labour, availability of coal and vast market are main factors of location of a large number of cotton textile industries.

Uttar Pradesh: There are 41 mills out of which 14 are located in Kanpur. Kanpur is known as Man-

chester of North India. Varanasi, Agra, Moradabad, Aligarh, Modinagar, Bareli and Saharanpur are other centers.

Tamil Nadu: The numbers of mills are highest in India – 208 mills. Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai are main centers of productions. Coimbatore in known as Manchester of South India. Main factors of localization are local cotton, power facility from Pykara projects, cheap and abundant labour, and lignite coal from Neyveli coal mines. Tamil Nadu ranks first in the production of cotton yarn in the country followed by Maharashtra.

Woollen Textile #

First woolen textile mill came up in 1876 at Kanpur and second one at Dhariwal in 1883. These are mainly concentrated in Punjab, Maharashtra and U.P. which account for about ¾ of the total spindlage capacity.

Punjab: Largest producer of Woolen textile. New Isserton Mill at Dhariwal is the largest center of hosiery in India. Other centers are – Amritsar, Ludhiana, and Kharar.
Maharashtra: 2nd largest producer. There are two centers of production in Maharash- tra-Mumbai and Thane. Mumbai is the most important center. Two units in Mumbai are Modella textile Industries and the Raymond Woolen mills.
U.P.: Kanpur is the largest center in the state. Other centres are – Mirzapur, Varanasi, Shah- jahanpur, Agra, and Modinagar. Kanpur is the main center where woolen mills are famous by the name of Lal Imli Mills.
Gujarat: Jamnagar, Ahmedabad, Kalol and Vadodara.
Haryana: Panipat is other center of produc- tion in Haryana.
Jammu & Kashmir: Srinagar is important center where Pashmina and Namda are fa- mous wool.

Silk Textile #

India is the only country in the world which produces all the four silk varieties – Mulberry, Eri, Tasar and Muga. India produced 15% of the world’s silk. It is the second largest producer of natural silk

after China. 95% of Indian silk comprises of Mul- berry category. It gives employment to more than 6 million people. Only 15% of the total output is exported because remaining part is consumed in sari.

Karnataka is the largest producer with 60% of mulberry silk. 5% of its population is engaged in silk industry especially in south Karnataka, Bangalore, Raidurg, Belgaum, Harihar, and Hubli.
West Bengal stands second with 13% of total silk. Murshidabad and Bankura are main cen- tres.
In Jammu & Kashmir 3.6 lakh persons are engaged in this industry. Udhampur, Jammu, Srinagar, Baramula and Anantnag are main centers of production.
Assam is the largest producer of muga silk in the country.
In Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh pro- duction is concentrated in Bilaspur, Bastar, Mandla, Balaghat, Shahdol, Sarguja, Raipur and Raigarh. Bastar produces 15% of nation- al and 50% of state silk. There are 215 centers of production in the State.
Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are other states of mulberry silk production. In Punjab Amritsar, Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur, Gur- daspur are important centers.
Bihar, Orissa, U.P. and Maharashtra are Tasar silk producers. Bhagalpur is famous for Tasar silk. In U.P. Mirzapur, Varanasi, Shahjahan- pur, Pratapgarh are important centers.

Jute Textile #

Known as ‘Golden Fiber’ – The first mill was established at Srirampore in 1855 which rose to 26 mills till 1895 and 111 in 1945-46. The partition had most severe impact on this Indus try as three fourth production areas lies in Bangladesh. About 8 lakh hectares land was devoted to jute cultivation and production was 10 million tones. West Bengal is the largest producer followed by Bihar, Assam and Orissa.

Presently there are 73 mills in India out of which 40 are on the bank of the Hooghly from Bansberia to Birlapur in a length of 90 kms. The following

factors are responsible for unusual concentration in this belt (i) the natural humid climate, availability of clean water from the Hooghly, nearby availability of coal from Raniganj mines and the dense population provides cheap and abundant supply of labour. (ii) The beginning was made from the export point of view; hence nearby port location was highly bene- ficial (iii) the cheapest mode of transportation for moving the jute from field to factories.

Chandernagar, Noakhali, Chandrahati, Bans- beria, Titagarh, Agarpara, Rishra, Salika Howrah, Behighat are main centers. In Bihar the units are located at Katihar, Purnea and Darbhanga. In A.P. jute industries are at Vishakhapatnam, Ellury, and Guntur.

METALLURGICAL INDUSTRY #

Iron and Steel Industries #

For the first time pig iron was produced in 1874 at Burnpur by Bengal Iron Works but financial crunch forced to down the shutter in 1877. It was in 1907 at Sakchi (now Jamshedpur) where first successful attempt was made by J.N. Tata by establishing Tata Iron and Steel Company. In TISCO pig iron was produced in 1911 and steel in 1913. The Indian Iron & Steel Company (IISCO) was set up in 1919 at Burnpur followed by the setting up of Mysore Steel Works at Bhadravati (now Visveshwaraya Iron and Steel Works) in 1923. After independence develop- ment of iron and steel industries was envisaged in 2nd Five Year Plan.

Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO): It is the largest steel plant in private sector. It enjoys the following facilities–

Coal form Jharia and Raniganj coalfields

(only 60 kms. away);

Iron-ore from Noamundi (Singhbhum distt of Jharkhand) and Gurumahisani (Mayurbhanj dist. Of Orissa);
Manganese from Joda mines (Keonjhar, Oris- sa);
Limestone and dolomite form Sundergarh and Birmitrapur, Orissa;
Cheap electricity form Damodar Valley Cor- poration;

Industrial region around Kolkata serves as a valuable outlet for the disposal of finished products;

Indian Iron and Steel Company (IISCO): #

IISCO has three plants in Kulti, Hirapur and Burnpur in West Bengal. IISCO enjoys the follow- ing facilities:

Iron ore from Guna mines (Singhbhum)
Coal from Raniganj and Jharia
Manganese from Keonjhar
Limestone from Birmitrapur
Hydel power from DVC

Visveshwaraya Iron and Steel Works (VISL): Formerly known as Mysore Iron and Steel Com- pany, it was set up in 1923 at Bhadravati on the Bank of River Bhadra on the Dirur-Shimoga branch of Southern railway. All raw materials are available within the radius of 50 kilometers.

Iron ore from Kemangundi mine of Bababu- dan hills (40 kms.);
Limestone is obtained form the distance of 20 kms;
Manganese from Shimoga and Chitradurg (98 km);
Adjacent reserve fulfils the need of coal;

Hindustan Steel Limited (HSL): Government of India established the HSL in order to increase the production of iron and steel. Consequently, three plants under the public sector i.e. Bhilai, Rourkela and Durgapur came into existence during the 2nd Five Year Plan. During 3rd Five Year Plan a steel plant at Bokaro was also proposed.

Rourkela Steel Plant: Rourkela Steel Plant was established in 1954 with the help of German tech- nology (Krupps Demag) 431 km south of Kolkata on Kolkata- Bombay railway line. The capacity is of 1.8 million tonnes of steel. This unit enjoys the following facilities –

Iron-ore from mines in Keonjhar and Sunder- garh Dist.;
Good quality coal from Jharia, Bokaro (240 km), Talcher;
Limestone form Hathibari and Birmitrapur lying only 25 kms away;

Manganese form nearby Baspam and Bolani mines;
Hydel power from Hirakud Project;

Bhilai Steel Plant: It lies in Durg district of Chhattisgarh. It is the largest steel Plant in India. The plant has installed capacity of 4.0 million tonnes of steel, which is to be enhanced upto 6.0 million tones. It receives:

Iron ore from Dalli-Rajhara which is only 32 kms form the plant;
Coking coal from Jharia and Bokaro (225 km) and low quality coal form Korba;
Limestone form Nandi mine, (24 km) and do- lomite form Hirni mine of Bilaspur.
Manganese form Balaghat district-220 km;
Water from Tandulla and Gandhi Canals;

Durgapur Steel Plant: It lies 175 km west of Kolkata in Bardhaman district. The capacity is 1.6 million tonnes of ingots steel. The facilities available to this unit are:

Iron-ore from Gua and Noamundi (190 km);
Coal from Raniganj and Jharia – 70 kms;
Limestone form Birmitrapur, Bhawanathpur and Hathibari mines of Orissa;
Hydel power form DVC; Water form Durgapur dam;
Nearness form Kolkata provides market fa- cility;

Bokaro Steel Plant: Established at Bokaro on Bokaro River in Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand. The capacity is of 4.0 million tonnes of steel. The unit enjoys the following facilities:

Coal form Jharia coalfield and local mines;
Availability of cheap power form DVC;
Iron-core form Kiriburu mine in Keonjhar district and limestone form Palamau district;

Vijayanagar Steel Plant: It lies near Hospet in Bellary district of Karnataka. The capacity is of

3.0 million tonnes of steel ingots. The Units enjoys these facilities

Iron ore from local mines (Hospet region);
Coking coal form Kanhan valley (C.G) and Singareni (A.P.);

Water from Tungbhadra dam (32 km); (d) Dolomite and limestone form nearby mine (200 km);

Salem Steel Plant: It is in Salem district of Tamilnadu. The magnetic iron-ore, limestone and dolomite are available in nearby mines. Lignite coal is obtained from nearby mines.

Vishakhapatnam Steel Plant: This is first and only shore-based steel plant in India. The unit has installed capacity of 3.0 million tonnes of ingots steel. The production began in 1992. It receives

Coals form Jharkhand;
Iron-ore from Bailadila mines;
The port facility;

Mini Steel Plants: Presently there are 199 mini steel plants with the installed capacity of 6.2 million tonnes. In private sector Lloyds Steel Industries, Nippon Denro in Maharashtra. Eicher Steel in Gujarat, Jindal Strips in M.P. and Malvika Steel in

U.P. are fast emerging. There are several units of sponge iron in India. India is ninth largest producer of steel in the world but per capita consumption is very low, 32 kg against the world average of 150 kg a person. Now India is exporting iron and steel.

ALUMINIUM INDUSTRY #

The availability of raw material (Bauxite) and power is the most important factors for the location of this industry. Since the raw material is weight loosing, the industries are mostly located in areas producing bauxite and where cheap hydro-electricity in available.

The first aluminum plant of the country was established in 1937 at Jaykaynagar (W. Bengal), which was primarily a coal region. The 2nd plant was established in 1938 at Muri (Jharkhand), which was bauxite producing region. Presently there are six units in India two in public sector and four in private sector.

Bharat Aluminium Co. Ltd. (BALCO): It is a public sector company having two units: Korba (Chhattisgarh) and Ratnagiri (Maharashtra). The annual capacities of these two units are 40000 and 50,000 tonnes a year respectively.

National Aluminium Co. Ltd. (NALCO): It is the largest unit in India and lowest cost producer

in the world, established in 1981 in Orissa with installed capacity of 2.18 lakh tonnes. The plant is at Damanjodi and the smelter is at Angul.

Hindustan Aluminum Corporation Ltd. (HINDALCO): This was set up in 1958 having its main factory at Renukut in Mirzapur district of U.P. Its capability is 1.75 lakh tonnes.

Indian Aluminum Co. Ltd. Kerala (IAN- DALCO): It is an integrated plant having units at different places. The first plant in the devices is located at Muri (Jharkhand) second at Alwaye (Kerala) and third at Belur (W.Bengal). New Plant has been established at Belgaum in Maharashtra.

Madras Aluminium Company (MALCO): It was established in 1965 at Mettur.

COPPER SMELTING INDUSTRY #

Hindustan Copper Ltd. (HCL), estd. in 1967 is the sole producer of primary copper in the country. It has 6 plant complexes.

Khetri copper complex (Rajasthan)
Indian Copper complex (Maubhandar near Ghatsila)
Malanjhkhand copper project (M.P.)
Rakha copper project (Singhbhum)
Dariba copper project (Alwar)
Chandmari copper project (Jhunjhuna)

Agnigundala Copper-Lead project in Guntur districtof Andhra is coming up at fast rate. Sterlite Industries is a private sector which has commissioned its copper smelter at Tuticorin. Birla Copper Ltd. Has set up a copper project at Dahej in Gujarat. Swil Cop- per Ltd. is setting up a plant at Bharuch in Gujarat.

LEAD INDUSTRY #

The first Lead smelting plant was set up at Tundoo near Dhanbad by Metal Corpora- tion of India. It was taken over by Hindustan Zinc Ltd. The ore is supplied from Zawar and Dariba mines of Rajasthan.
Another plant has been established at Vishakhapatnam based on the ore supply from Agnigundala.
The Lead-Zinc Complex was constructed at Chanderia in 1991 under the British aid pro- gramme.

ZINC INDUSTRY #

At present there are 4 zinc smelters in the country, one each at Alwaye (Kerala), Debari and Chanderia (Raj) and Vishakhapatnam.

Alwaye Plant: The Alwaye plant is totally dependent upon imported supplies of zinc concen- trates. It started production in 1967.

Debari Plant: It started production in 1968. Besides, it also produces Sulphuric acid, Cadmium, Phosphoric acid and Super Phosphate. Half of ore is supplied by Balaria and Rajpur-Dariba mines and rest is imported.

Chanderia Plant: It was set up in 1991 based on the supplies from Bhilwara and Chittorgarh. It also produces lead and silver.

Vishakhapatnam Plant: It receives ore from Agnigundala mines and gives a production of 40000 tonnes per annum.

Fertilizers Industry #

There are three types of chemical fertilizers, viz.

Nitrogenous fertilizers (67%)
- Phosphatic fertilizers (21%) and
- Potash fertilizer (12%).

The first fertilizer (Nitrogen based) plant was established in 1906 at Ranipet (T.N.). India is the third largest producer and consumer of fertilizer in the world. It produces mainly two types of ferti- lizers: (1) Nitrogenous (2) Phosphate. Potash based fertilizer is produced in very limited quantity due to lack of raw material and is completely dependent on import of potash. Majority of chemical fertilizer factories are located near oil refineries.

Gujarat and Tamil Nadu lead in production followed U.P., Punjab, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Kerala, Haryana, A.P., Assam and West Bengal. Gujarat is the largest producer of nitrogenous fertilizer (14.7%) and second largest producer of phosphate fertilizer (30.6%). Units at Bharuch and Kandla produce phosphate fertilizer. Nitrogenous fertilizer is produced at Vadodara and Kalol. Tamil Nadu is the largest producer of phosphate fertilizer (37%) and second largest of nitrogenous fertilizer. Four units are located at Tuticorin, Neyveli, Chennai and Ellore. Tuticorin is the largest unit. In U.P. 95%

of nitrogenous fertilizer is produced from four units at Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Phulpur and Varanasi. In Punjab two units are at Nangal and Bhatinda.

In Maharashtra nitrogenous fertilizer and phosphate fertilizer is produced. Trombay has the largest nitrogenous fertilizer factory in the country. Andhra Pradesh contributes phosphate and nitrog- enous fertilizer. Ramagudam and Vishakhapatnam are two important centers. Kerala, Orissa, Haryana, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Assam are other pro- ducing states. Per hectare consumption of fertilizer is highest in Punjab. High domestic consumption force India to import fertilizers.

Public Sector #

Fertilizer Corporation of India – Sindri, Gora- khpur, Talcher and Ramagundam.
National Fertilizer Ltd. – Nangal, Bhatinda, Panipat, Vijaipur, Durgapur, Barauni, Nam- rup and Trombay.
National Chemical & Fertilizer Ltd. – Trom- bay
Madras Fertilizer Ltd. – Always, Cochin
Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd. – Udyogmandal and Kochi.
Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd. – Trombay and Thal.
Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation Ltd.- Nam- rup, Durgapur and Barauni.

Joint Sector: Madras Fertilizer Ltd.

Under the Ministry of Mines: Rourkela, Neyveli, Khetri

Co-operative sector: IFFCO (Kalol, Kandla, Phulpur and Aonla)

Gas based plant along HBJ pipeline: Vijaipur, Aonla, Hazira, Jagdishpur, and Babrala.

CEMENT INDUSTRY #

Manufacturing of cement started at Ranipet (Chennai) in 1904. But this attempt proved abortive and the successful attempt was made in 1912 when Indian Cement Co. Ltd. set up a plant at Porbandar. India is the 2nd largest producer of cement in the world after China. All the raw materials (limestone, dolomites coal, gypsum etc.) are heavy and weight

losing, therefore, the industry is concentrated in the source region of these raw materials, mainly in limestone producing region, and is influenced by the minimization of transportation cost. There are 103 large and 252 small cement factories in India with installed capacity of 740.7 lakh tones a year. Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra produce 80% of total national production of cement.

Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh is the largest producer of cement of India producing one fifth of total production. 14 large and 15 small factories are located here. Satna, Katni, Durg, Kymore, Maihar, Mandhar, Damoh, Bilaspur and Raipur are important centers.
Andhra Pradesh is the second largest pro- ducer (10.7%). There are 10 factories in the state of Karimnagar, Adilabad, Cement- nagar, Vijayawada, Vijayanagar, Mancherla, Vishakhapatnam and Krishna. Pedapalli is the biggest plant.
Rajasthan produces 11% cement- Chittor- garh, Udaipur, Sirohi, Nimbaheda, Sawai Madhopur and Lakheri are main centers of production.
Gujarat produces 9% of cement – Sika, Ahmedabad, Dwarka, Porbandar, Sevolia, Ramarao, Bhavnagar and Okha are main cen- ters.
Tamil Nadu produces 8.7% of cements. Nine factories are there at Shankridurga, Talai- yathu, Dalmiapuram, Talukkapatti, Alangu- lam and Salem.
Jharkhand, Karnataka, U.P. and Orissa are other cement producing states in India. The highest consumption is in the state of Maha- rashtra followed by Uttar Pradesh.
Sea-conch based cement industry: Dwar- ka (Gujarat), Thiruvanantapuram (Kerala), Chennai (T.N.).
Sludge based cement factories: Sindri (Jharkhand), Talcher (Orissa)
Other Important Centers: Sindri, Jhin- upani, Khalari, Chaibasa, Kalyanpur (all in Jharkhand); Dalmia Nagar, Japla (Bihar)

LEATHER INDUSTRY #

Tamil Nadu is the largest producer of leather in the country, contributing 65% followed by Kolkata, Kanpur, Bombay, Aurangabad, Kolhapur, Dewar, Jalandhar and Agra. Kanpur is the largest market of hides in the country. Only 10% of the total pro- duction comes from organized sector. Though India is the largest country in animal wealth its share in the leather market is only of 3.0%. Germany is the largest importer of India leather goods.

Tanning The first tannery was set up at Kanpur in 1867. At present Kanpur, Chennai and Kolkata are the largest tanning centres. Other centers are Agra, Bangalore, Belgaum, Bhopal, Mokama (Bihar), Phulbani (Orissa), Sherbaug (Guj), Kapurthala, etc. Central Leather Research Institute is at Chennai.

Leather Goods The main centres are Chennai, Ranipet, Ambur, Vaniambadi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Kanpur, Agra, Kolhapur, Jalandhar, Delhi, Batana- gar, Faridabad and Jaipur.

Sugar Industry It is the 2nd largest agro-based industry after cotton textile. India is the 2nd largest producer of sugar after Cuba but if Gur & Khandsari are taken into account it is the largest. In 1950-51 the production was 11.4 lakh tones, which increased 280 lakh tones in 2006-07. The number of sugar mills was 139 in 1950-51 rose to 530 in 2007-08. Since sugarcane in a heavy, weight losing and perishable raw material, most of the industries are located in the region of sugar cultivation. More than 85% sugar is produced in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Maharashtra is the largest producer of sugar in India with 90 sugar mills. It produces 40% of total sugar production in India. Ahmednagar, Nasik, Kol- hapur, Sholapur, Pune, Satara, Sangli and Aurang- abad are main producing districts.

Uttar Pradesh is the second largest producer; number of sugar mills are 103 – produces 28% of sugar. In western U.P. Saharanpur, Meerut, Muzaf- farnagar, Ghaziabad and Bulandshahar and in Terai belt – Deoria, Gonda, Basti, Pilibhit, Bahraich and Gorakhpur are main producing districts.

Tamil Nadu is the third largest producer with 32 sugar mills. Coimbatore, Arcot, Tiruchirapalli and

Madurai are main producing district. Per hectare production is highest in this state.

Karnataka has 30 mills located at Belgaum, Mandya, Bijapur, Bellary, Shimoga and Chitradurg.

Gujarat – 16 mills mainly in, Bhavnagar, Jam- nagar, Amreli, Banaskantha, Junagarh Surat and Rajkot.

Andhra Pradesh – 35 mills mainly in Krishna, Nazimabad, Medak, Chittur, East and West Godavari.

Haryana (Rohtak, Ambala), Punjab (Amritsar, Jalandhar) and Bihar (Darbhanga, Saran, Champaran and Muzzafarpur) are other main producers.

Industrial region refers to the continuous devel- opment of industrial landscape over a large area by the concentration of a number of factories of different industries.

Industrial region has following characteristics:

Predominance of industries and concentra- tion of factories.
Emergence of many big and small towns supporting residential colonies of industrial workers and markets for industrial goods and raw materials.
Dense network of transport and communica- tion lines.
Sparse rural population
Emphasis on the production of consumer goods.

On the basis of workers employed, B.N. Sinha classified industrial regions into three categories:

Major Region: Those employing a minimum daily number of 1.5 lakh workers are major industrial regions.
Minor Region: Those employing 25000 workers daily as minor industrial regions.
Industrial Districts: Those employing less than 25000 workers are industrial districts.

Major industrial regions are: #

Kolkata-Hooghly Belt: It is an old and im- portant region of the country stretching along the either side of the river – from Naihati to Budge- Budge along the left Bank and from Tribeni to Nalpur in the right bank. Cotton

textile, silks, jute engineering chemical and pharmaceuticals, leather and foot-wears in- dustries are located here. The region is facil- itated with rich hinterland of Ganga, Brah- maputra Plain, and the enough availability of good coal, cheap local labour and the port fa- cility of Kolkata. The region is experiencing stagnation and relative decline in industrial growth in recent years.

The main problems are:

High degree of congestion. Gradual filling of Kolkata port making the shipping facil- ities somewhat difficult.
- Bottle-neck in South-East and Eastern rainydays.
- Paucity of space.
- Shortage of drinking water and civic ame- nities.
- Environmental pollution.
- The state government is pursuing the pol- icy of liberalization but problem of land acquisition is acting as a main obstacle for redevelopment of the region.
Mumbai-Poona Belt: It is the most import- ant industrial region of the country. It has a heavy concentration of cotton textile, engi- neering, oil refiners, fertilizers and chemical industries. The belt consists of Mumbai, Kur- la, Ghatkopar, Andheri, Jogeshwari, Thane, Bhandrup, Kalyan, Pimpri and Poona. Cheap labour, easy availability of hydroelectricity, raw cotton along with the port facilities; act as the main assets of this area. The indus- trial development of this region has almost reached its saturation stage. After partition cotton producing area reduced thus effected the raw material supply and high transport cost of coal and other minerals effected the growth. But now it has developed as an eco- nomic hub.
Ahmedabad-Vadodara-Surat Belt: It is the third largest industrial region comprising within its fold the centers of Kalol, Ahmed- abad, Nadiad, and Vadodara, Surat, Nava sari and Ankleshwar, leather goods and a wide variety of engineering units are established

here. The initial advantage was the availabil- ity of raw cotton from the hinterland and the transport network along with the Kandla port.

Madurai-Coimbatore-Bangalore Region: Cheap and skilled labour, large market were the chief factors, which attracted a number of industries. Availability of cheap hydel power helped in various ways. Cotton textile, sugar plants, leather goods, chemicals, H.M.T. Bharat Electricals, Iron and Steel, Hindustan Aeronau- tics have assisted the development of this area.
Chotanagpur Plateau Region: Locally available coal, iron-ore mica, bauxite copper, limestone, manganese has given rise to heavy industries like iron and steel at Jamshedpur, Durgapur, Kulti, Burnpur, Bokaro along with many associated industries. Proximity to Kolkata port, vast network of railways, cheap labour supply from the tribal areas and the development of DVC and numerous thermal power stations helped the area to develop as a major industrial region on the map of India. Besides, many more mini industrial regions and industrial districts are fast emerging in different parts of the country in recent times.
Mathura-Delhi-Saharanpur Ambala belt: It has the advantage of the proximity of the national capital; availability of cheap raw ma- terials; nearness of large market and regular supply of power. This region spreads in two separate belts running in north-south direc- tion between Faridabad and Ambala in Hary- ana and Mathura and Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. The capital city has predominance of engineering, electronic, chemical, glass and consumer industries.

Liberalization, Privatization, Globalization (LPG) and Industrial Development in India #

The new Industrial Policy was announced in 1991. The major objectives of this policy were to build on the gains already made, correct the distortions or weaknesses that have crept in, maintain a sustained growth in productivity and gainful employment and attain international competitiveness.

Within this policy, measures initiated are:

(1) abolition of industrial licensing, (2) free entry to foreign technology, (3) foreign in- vestment policy, (4) access to capital market,

(5) open trade, (6) abolition of phased manu- facturing programme, and (7) liberalised in- dustrial location programme.

The policy has three main dimensions: liber- alisation, privatisation and globalisation.
The industrial licensing system has been abol- ished for all except six industries related to security, strategic or environmental concerns.
At the same time, the number of industries reserved for public sector since 1956 have been reduced from 17 to 4.
The threshold limits of assets have been scrapped and no industry requires prior approval for investing in the delicensed sec- tor. They only need to submit a memorandum in the prescribed format.
In the new industrial policy, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been seen as a supple- ment to the domestic investment for achieving a higher level of economic development.
FDI benefits the domestic industry as well as the consumers by providing technological upgradation, access to global managerial skills and practices, optimum use of natural and human resources, etc.
The government has also announced changes in the industrial location policies.
Globalisation means integrating the economy of the country with the world economy. In Indian context, this implies:
- opening of the economy to foreign di- rect investment by providing facilities to foreign companies to invest in different fields of economies activity in India;
- removing restrictions and obstacles to the entry of multi- national companies in India;
- allowing Indian companies to enter into foreign collaboration in India and also encouraging them to set up joint ventures abroad;

carrying out massive import liberalisa- tion programmes by switching over from quantitative restrictions to tariffs in the first place, and then bringing down the level of import duties considerably; and
- instead of a set of export incentives, opt- ing for exchange rate adjustments for promoting export.

Industrial Regions and Districts Major Industrial Regions (8) #

1. Mumabi-Pune Region, 2. Hugli Region, 3. Bangalore-Tamil Nadu Region, 4. Gujarat Region,

5. Chotanagpur Region, 6. Vishakhapatnam-Guntur

Region, 7. Gurgaon-Delhi-Meerut Region, and 8. Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram Region.

Minor Industrial Regions (13) #

Ambala-Amritsar, 2. Saharanpur-Muzaffarna-

gar-Bijnor, 3. Indore-Dewas-Uijjain, 4. Jaipur-Ajmer,

5. Kolhapur-South Kannada, 6. Northern Malabar,

7. Middle Malabar,8. Adilabad-Nizamabad, 9. Alla-

habad-Varanasi-Mirzapur, 10. Bhojpur-Munger,11.

Durg-Raipur, 12. Bilaspur-Korba, and 13. Brahma- putra valley.

Industrial Districts (15) #

1. Kanpur, 2. Hyderabad, 3. Agra, 4. Nagpur,

5. Gwalior, 6. Bhopal, 7. Lucknow, 8. Jalpaiguri,

9. Cuttack, 10. Gorakhpur, 11. Aligarh, 12. Kota,

Purnia, 14. Jabalpur, and 15. Bareilly. 1. Mum- bai-Pune Industrial Region.
Extends from Mumbai-Thane to Pune and in adjoining districts of Nashik and Solapur.
Besides, industrial development has been rapid in Kolaba, Ahmednagar, Satara, Sangli and Jalgaon districts. Development of this region started with the location of cotton textile industry in Mumbai.
Mumbai, with cotton hinter land and moist climate favoured the location of cotton textile industry.
Opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 provided impetus to the growth of Mumbai port. Machineries were imported through this port.
Hydro-electricity was developed in the West-

ern Ghat region to meet the requir ements of this industry.

Chemical industry also developed. Opening of the Mumbai High petroleum field and erec- tion of nuclear energy plants added additional pull to this region.

2. Hugli Industrial Region #

Located along the Hugli river, this region extends from Bansberia in the north to Bir- lanagar in the south for a distance of about 100 km.
- Historically, geographical, economic and political factors have contributed much to its development. It developed with the opening of river port on Hugli.
- Kolkata emerged as a leading centre of the country.
- Development of tea plantations in Assam and northern hills of West Bengal, the processing of indigo earlier and jute later coupled with the opening of coalfields of the Damodar Valley and iron ore deposits of the Chotan- agpur plateau, contributed to the industrial development of the region.
- Cheap labour available from thickly popu- lated part of Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh and Orissa also contributed to its development.
- Kolkata, being the capital city of British India (1773-1911), attracted the British capital. The establishment of first jute mill at Rishra in 1855 ushered in the era of modern industrial clustering in this region.
- Location of petroleum refinery at Haldia has facilitated the development of a variety of industries.
- However, industrial growth of this region has slowed down in comparison to other regions. Decline of the jute industry is one of the reasons.

3. Bangalore-Chennai Industrial Region #

This region witnessed most rapid industrial growth in post-Independence period.
- Since, this region is away from the coalfields,

its development is dependent on the Pykara hydroelectric plant, which was built in 1932.

Cotton textile industry was the first to take roots due to the presence of cotton growing areas. Along with cotton mills, loom industry spread very rapidly. Several heavy engi- neering industries converged at Bangalore. Aircraft (HAL), machine tools, telephone (HTL) and Bharat Electronics are industrial landmarks of this region. Important industries are textiles, rail wagons, diesel engines, radio, light engineering goods, rubber goods, medi- cines, aluminium, sugar, cement, glass, paper, chemicals, film, cigarette, match box, leather goods, etc.
- Petroleum refinery at Chennai, iron and steel plant at Salem and fertiliser plants are recent developments.

4. Gujarat Industrial Region #

The nucleus of this region lies between Ahmedabad and Vadodara but this region extends upto Valsad and Surat in the south and to Jamnagar in the west.

Development of this region is also associated with the location of the cotton textile industry since 1860s.
- This region became an important textile region with the decline of the cotton textile industry at Mumbai.
- Located in cotton growing area, this region has double advantage of the proximity of raw materials as well as of market.
- The discovery of oil fields led to the estab- lishment of petrochemical industries around Ankleshwar, Vadodara and Jamnagar.
- The port at Kandla helped in the rapid growth of this region. Petroleum refinery at Koyali provided raw materials to a host of petro- chemical industries.

5. Chotanagpur Region #

This region extends over Jharkhand, north- ern Orissa and wester n West Bengal and is known for the heavy metallurgical industries.

This region owes its development to the discovery of coal in the Damodar Valley and metallic and non-metallic minerals in Jharkhand and northern Orissa.
- Proximity of coal, iron ore and other minerals facilitated the location of heavy industries in this region.
- Six large integrated iron and steel plants at Jamshedpur, Burnpur- Kulti, Durgapur, Bokaro and Rourkela are located within this region.
- To meet the power requirement, thermal and hydroelectric plants have been constructed in the Damodar Valley.
- Densely populated surrounding regions pro- vide cheap labour and Hugli region provides vast market for its industries.
- Heavy engineering, machine tools, fertilisers, cement, paper, locomotives and heavy elec- tricals are some of the important industries in this region. Important centres are Ranchi, Dhanbad, Chaibasa, Sindri, Hazaribag, Jamshedpur, Bokaro, Rourkela, Durgapur, Asansol and Dalmianagar.

6. Vishakhapatnam-Guntur Region #

This industrial region extends from Vishakhap- atnam district to Kurnool and Prakasam districts in the south.
- Industrial development of this region hinges upon Vishakhapatnam and Machilipatnam ports and developed agriculture and rich reserves of minerals in their hinterlands.
- Coalfields of the Godavari basin provide energy.
- Ship building industry was started at Vishakhapatnam in 1941.
- Petroleum refinery based on imported petro- leum facilitated the growth of several petro- chemical industries.
- One lead-zinc smelter is functioning in Gun- tur district.

7. Gurgaon-Delhi-Meerut Region #

Industries located in this region have shown very fast growth in the recent past.
- This region is located far away from the mineral and power resources, and therefore, the industries are light and market-oriented.
- Electronics, light engineering and electrical goods are major industries of this region. Besides, there are cotton, woollen and syn- thetic fabrics, hosiery, sugar, cement, machine tools, tractor, cycle, agricultural implements, chemical and vanaspati industries which have developed on large scale.
- Software industry is a recent addition. To the south lies the Agra-Mathura industrial area which specialises in glass and leather goods.
- Mathura with an oil refinery is a petrochemi- cal complex. Among industrial centres, men- tion be made of Gurgaon, Delhi, Shahdara, Faridabad, Meerut, Modinagar, Ghaziabad, Ambala, Agra and Mathura.

8. Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram Region #

This industrial region is spread over Thiru- vananthapuram, Kollam, Alwaye, Ernakulam and Alappuzha districts.
- Plantation agriculture and hydropower pro- vide industrial base to this region.
- Located far away from the mineral belt of the country, agricultural products processing and market oriented light industries predominate the region.
- Among them, cotton textile, sugar, rubber, matchbox, glass, chemical fertiliser and fish- based industries are important. Food process- ing, paper, coconut coir products, aluminium and cement industries are also significant.
- Location of petroleum refinery at Kochchi has added a vista of new industries to this region.

What are your Feelings

Still stuck? How can we help?

Updated on January 12, 2026