Agro-based Industries

Cotton, jute, silk, woollen textiles, sugar and edible oil, etc. industries are based on agricultural raw materials. Let’s know about each of them, one by one.

Textile Industry

It is the only industry in India, which is self-reliant and complete in the value chain i.e., from raw material to the highest value added products. It contributes to industrial production, employment generation and foreign exchange earnings.

Cotton Textiles

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. It supports many other industries, such as, chemicals and dyes, packaging materials and engineering works.

Jute Textiles

India is the largest producer of raw jute and jute goods. Most of the mills are located in West Bengal, mainly along the banks of the Hugli river.

Sugar Industry

India stands second as a world producer of sugar but occupies the first place in the production of Gur and Khandsari. This industry is seasonal in nature.

Mineral-based Industries
Industries that use minerals and metals as raw materials are called mineral-based industries. Let’s discuss some industries that fall under this category.

Iron and Steel Industry

Iron and steel is the basic industry as all the other industries – heavy, medium and light, depend on it for their machinery. lt is considered as a heavy industry because all the raw materials, as well as finished goods, are heavy and bulky entailing heavy transportation costs.

India is an important iron and steel producing country in the world yet, we are not able to perform to our full potential largely due to:

High costs and limited availability of coking coal
Lower productivity of labour
Irregular supply of energy
Poor infrastructure.

Aluminium Smelting

Aluminium Smelting is the second most important metallurgical industry in India. It is used to manufacture aircraft, utensils and wires. Bauxite is the raw material used in the smelters.

Aluminium Smelting has gained popularity as a substitute for steel, copper, zinc and lead in a number of industries. It exhibits the following properties:

• Light in weight
• Resistant to corrosion
• A good conductor of heat
• Malleable
• Becomes strong when it is mixed with other metals                                                                                                                                                                           Chemical Industries

The Chemical industry comprises both large and small scale manufacturing units. Rapid

growth has been recorded in both inorganic and organic sectors.

Inorganic chemicals include sulphuric acid nitric acid, alkalies, soda ash and caustic soda.

Organic chemicals include petrochemicals, which are used for manufacturing synthetic fibers, synthetic rubber, plastics, dye-stuffs, drugs and pharmaceuticals.

Fertilizer Industry

The fertilizer industries are centred around the production of nitrogenous fertilizers (mainly urea), phosphatic fertilizers and ammonium phosphate (DAP) and complex fertilizers which have a combination of nitrogen (N), phosphate (P), and potash (K). Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Kerala contribute towards half of the fertilizer production.

Cement Industry

Cement is essential for construction activity such as building houses, factories, bridges, roads, airports, dams and for other commercial establishments. This industry requires bulky and heavy raw materials like limestone, silica and gypsum.

Automobile Industry

This industry deals with the manufacturing of trucks, buses, cars, motorcycles, scooters, three-wheelers and multi-utility vehicles. These industries are located around Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore, Hyderabad, Jamshedpur and Bengaluru.

Information Technology and Electronics Industry

The electronics industry covers a wide range of products from transistor sets to television, telephones, cellular telecom, telephone exchange, radars, computers and many other equipment required by the telecommunication industry. This industry has generated employment in India. Bengaluru is known as the electronic capital of India.