NCERT Class 8 Geography: Chapter 4 Industries (Free PDF)

Industries is chapter 4 of the Geography–SST NCERT book for class 8. It talks about industries, their types, and factors that affect them among other things. It will be a very interesting and informative chapter for the students to understand various aspects of the manufacturing process. It may help them appreciate the amount of work that goes into everything that they use.  In this blog, we will read about the important details in the chapter and notes for Industries Class 8.

Download Social Science Class 8 Geography Chapter 4 Important Questions and Answers PDF

Important Definitions in NCERT Class 8 Geography Chapter 4

• Industry refers to an economic activity that is concerned with the production of goods, extraction of minerals or the provision of services. Examples – the iron and steel industry (production of goods), coal mining industry (extraction of coal) tourism industry (service provider) etc.
• Manufacturing or secondary activities change raw materials into products. The paper made from pulp and cloth made from cotton have value added to them at each stage of the manufacturing process. In this way, the finished product has more value and utility than the raw material that it is made from.

• Agro-based industries use plant and animal-based products as their raw materials. Food processing, vegetable oil, cotton textile, dairy products and leather industries are examples of agro-based industries.
• Mineral-based industries are primary industries that use mineral ores as their raw materials. The products of these industries feed other industries. Iron made from iron ore is the product of mineral-based industries. This is used as raw material for the manufacture of a number of other products such as heavy machinery, building materials and railway coaches.
• Marine-based industries use products from the sea and oceans as raw materials. Industries processing seafood or manufacturing fish oil are some examples of this type.
• Forest-based industries utilize forest produce as raw materials. The industries associated with forests are pulp and paper, pharmaceuticals, furniture and buildings.

• Small-Scale Industries: Cottage or household industries are a type of small-scale industry where the products are manufactured by hand, by the artisans. Basket weaving, pottery and other handicrafts are examples of cottage industry. Silk weaving and food processing industries are small-scale industries.
• Large-Scale Industries: Investment of capital is higher and the technology used is superior in large-scale industries. Production of automobiles and heavy machinery are large-scale industries. Small-scale industries use a lesser amount of capital and technology as compared to large-scale industries that produce large volumes of products.

Important Points in NCERT Class 8 Geography Chapter 4

Ownership

Industries can be classified into private sector, state-owned or public sector, joint sector and cooperative sector.

• Private sector industries are owned and operated by individuals or a group of individuals.
• The public sector industries are owned and operated by the government such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Steel Authority of India Limited.
• Joint sector industries are owned and operated by the state and individuals or a group of individuals. Maruti Udyog Limited is an example of the joint sector industry.
• Co-operative sector industries are owned and operated by the producers or suppliers of raw materials, workers or both Anand Milk Union Limited or AMUL and Sudha Dairy are success stories of a co-operative venture. 

Factors Affecting Location of Industries

The factors affecting the location of industries are the availability of raw materials, land, water, labour, power, capital, transport and market. Industries are situated where some or all of these factors are easily available. Sometimes the government also provides incentives like subsidized power, lower transport cost and other infrastructure so that industries may be located in backward areas. Industrialization often leads to the development and growth of towns and cities.

Industrial System

An industrial system consists of inputs, processes and outputs. The inputs are the raw materials, labour and costs of land, transport, power and other infrastructure. The processes include a wide range of activities that convert the raw material into finished products. The outputs are the end product and the income earned from it. In the textile industry, the inputs may be cotton, human labour, factory and transport costs. The processes include ginning, spinning, weaving, dyeing and printing and the output is the shirt you wear.

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Industrial Regions

Industries emerge when a number of industries are located close to each other and share the benefits of their closeness. Major industrial regions of the world are Eastern North America, Western and Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Eastern Asia. Major industrial regions tend to be located in temperate areas, near seaports and especially near coal fields. India has several industrial regions like the Mumbai-Pune cluster, Bangalore-Tamil Nadu region, Hugli region, Ahmedabad-Baroda region, Chota Nagpur industrial belt, Vishakhapatnam-Guntur belt, Gurgaon-Delhi-Meerut region and the Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram industrial cluster.

Industrial Disaster

In industries accidents mainly occur due to technical failure or irresponsible handling of hazardous material. One of the worst industrial disasters of all time occurred in Bhopal on 3 December 1984 and is also called the Bhopal gas tragedy. It was a technological accident in which highly poisonous Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) gas along with Hydrogen Cyanide and other reaction products leaked out of the pesticide factory of Union Carbide. The official death toll was 3,598 and thousands who survived still suffer from one or many ailments like blindness, impaired immune system, gastrointestinal disorders etc.

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Risk Reduction Measures 

• Densely populated residential areas should be separated far away from the industrial areas.
• People staying in the vicinity of industries should be aware of the storage of toxins or hazardous substances and their possible effects in case an accident occurs.
• Fire warning and fighting systems should be improved.
• The storage capacity of toxic substances should be limited.
• Pollution dispersion qualities in industries should be improved.

Distribution of Major Industries

The world’s major industries are the iron and steel industry, the textile industry and the information technology industry. The iron steel and textile industry are the older industries while information technology is an emerging industry. The countries in which the iron and steel industry is located are Germany, USA, China, Japan and Russia. The 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

Like other industries, the iron and steel industry to comprises various inputs, processes and outputs. This is a feeder industry whose products are used as raw materials for other industries. The inputs for the industry include raw materials such as iron ore, coal and limestone, along with labour, capital, site and other infrastructure. The process of converting iron ore into steel involves many stages. The raw material is put in the blast furnace where it undergoes smelting and is then refined. The output obtained is steel which may be used by other industries as raw material.

Steel is tough and it can easily be shaped, cut, or made into wire. Special alloys of steel can be made by adding small amounts of other metals such as aluminium, nickel, and copper. Alloys give steel unusual hardness, toughness, or ability to resist rust. Steel is often called the backbone of the modern industry since almost everything we use is either made of iron or steel or has been made with tools and machinery of these metals.

In India, the iron and steel industry has developed taking advantage of raw materials, cheap labour, transport and the market. All the important steel-producing centres such as Bhilai, Durgapur, Burnpur, Jamshedpur, Rourkela, and Bokaro are situated in a region that spreads over four states — West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. Bhadravati and Vijay Nagar in Karnataka, Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, and Salem in Tamil Nadu are other important steel centres utilizing local resources.

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Jamshedpur

Before 1947 there was only one iron and steel plant in the country Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (TISCO). It was privately owned. After Independence, the government took the initiative and set up several iron and steel plants. Geographically Jamshedpur is the most conveniently situated iron and steel centre in the country. Sakchi is close to the iron ore, coal and manganese deposits as well as to Kolkata which provides a large market. TISCO gets raw materials from Odisha and Chhattisgarh. The Kharkai and Subarnarekha rivers ensure a sufficient water supply. Government initiatives provided adequate capital for its later development. Other industrial plants were also set up in Jamshedpur. They produce chemicals, locomotive parts, agricultural equipment, machinery, tinplate, cable and wire. The development of the iron and steel industry opened the doors to rapid industrial development in India. Almost all sectors of the Indian industry depend heavily on the iron and steel industry for their basic infrastructure. The Indian iron and steel industry consists of large integrated steel plants as well as mini steel mills.

Pittsburgh

It is an important steel city in the United States of America. The steel industry in Pittsburgh also enjoys locational advantages. Raw material such as coal and iron ore is easily available. Adequate water and transportation facilities are also available in the form of trains. Finished steel is transported to the market by both land and water routes. The Pittsburgh area has many factories other than steel mills. These use steel as their raw material to make many different products such as railroad equipment, heavy machinery rails etc.

Cotton Textile Industry

Weaving cloth from yarn is an ancient art. Cotton, wool, silk, jute, and flax have been used for making cloth. The textile industry can be divided based on the raw materials used in them. Fibres are the raw material of the textile industry. Natural fibres are obtained from wool, silk, cotton, linen and jute. Manmade fibres include nylon, polyester, acrylic and rayon. The cotton textile industry is one of the oldest industries in the world.

Before British rule, Indian hand-spun and hand-woven cloth already had a wide market. The Muslins of Dhaka, Chintzes of Masulipatnam, Calicos of Calicut and Gold-wrought cotton of Burhanpur, Surat and Vadodara were known worldwide for their quality and design. However, the production of hand-woven cotton textiles was expensive and time-consuming. Hence traditional cotton textile industry could not face competition from the new textile mills of the West which produced cheap and good quality fabrics through mechanized industrial units.

The first successful mechanized textile mill was established in Mumbai in 1854. The warm, moist climate, a port for importing machinery, availability of raw materials and skilled labour resulted in the rapid expansion of the industry in the region. Coimbatore, Kanpur, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ludhiana, Puducherry and Panipat are some of the other important centres.

Ahmedabad

It is located in Gujarat on the banks of the Sabarmati River. The first mill was established in 1859 and soon it became the second-largest textile city of India after Mumbai. Ahmedabad was therefore often referred to as the ‘Manchester of India’. Favourable locational factors were responsible for the development of the textile industry in Ahmedabad. It is situated very close to the cotton growing area which ensures easy availability of raw material. The climate is ideal for spinning and weaving, the flat terrain and easy availability of land are suitable for the establishment of the mills, the densely populated states of Gujarat and Maharashtra provide both skilled and semi-skilled labour and well-developed road and railway network permits easy transportation of textiles to different parts of the country providing easy access to the market. Mumbai port nearby facilitates the import of machinery and export of cotton textiles. But in recent years several textile mills have closed down. This is primarily due to the emergence of new textile centres in the country and the non-upgradation of machines and technology in the mills.

Osaka

It is an important textile centre of Japan also known as the ‘Manchester of Japan’. The textile industry developed in Osaka due to several geographical factors. The extensive plain provides ample land, the climate is suitable, river Yodo provides water and labour is available easily. The textile industry in Osaka depends completely upon imported raw materials. Cotton is imported from Egypt, India, China and the USA. The finished product is mostly exported. Though it is one of the important textile cities in the country, other industries like iron and steel, machinery, shipbuilding, automobiles, electrical equipment and cement have replaced the textile industry.

Information Technology (IT)

The information technology industry deals in the storage, processing and distribution of information. Today this industry has become global. This is due to a series of technological, political, and socio-economic events. The main factors guiding the location of these industries are resource availability, cost and infrastructure. The major hubs of the IT industry are Silicon Valley, California and Bengaluru, India which is also called the ‘Silicon Plateau’. There are other emerging information technology hubs in metropolitan centres of India such as Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai. However, Bengaluru has always had a unique advantage as a city with the highest availability of middle and top management talent.

Important Questions and Answers in NCERT Class 8 Chapter 4 Industries

1. Answer the following questions.

(i) What is meant by the term ‘industry’?

Ans: Industry refers to an economic activity that is concerned with the production of goods like the iron and steel industry, the extraction of minerals like the coal mining industry and the provision of services like the tourism industry.

(ii) What are the main factors which influence the location of an industry?

Ans: Setting up an industry leads to the development and growth of that location. The factors that affect the location of industries are the easy availability of raw materials and land, adequate supply of water and labour, access to power and transport, presence of markets and a good amount of capital. Sometimes, the government also provides incentives like subsidised power, lower transport costs and other infrastructural facilities. This is done to encourage industries to be established in economically backward areas.

(iii) Which industry is often referred to as the backbone of the modern industry and why?

Ans: Steel is called the backbone of modern industry because almost everything we use is either made of steel or has been made with machinery or tools made out of steel. The steel industry is basically the feeder industry, whose products are the raw materials for other industries.

2. Distinguish between the following.

(i) Agro-based and mineral-based industry

Ans: Agro-based industries use plant and animal-based products as their raw materials. It is a source of employment for people in rural areas. Food processing, vegetable oil, cotton textile, dairy products and leather industries are examples of agro-based industries, whereas mineral-based industries are primary industries that use mineral ores as their raw materials. It is a source of employment for both rural and urban populations. Steel and Iron Industries and Heavy Machinery industries are examples of mineral-based industries.

(ii) Public sector and joint sector industry

Ans: Industries owned and operated by the government are public sector industries. Steel Authority of India Limited and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited are examples of Public sector industries. On the other hand, joint sector industries are owned and operated by the state and individuals or a group of individuals. Maruti Udyog Limited is an example of a joint sector industry.

4. Give two examples of the following in the space provided:

(i) Raw Materials: iron ore and cotton.

(ii) End products: steel and clothes

(iii) Tertiary Activities: transport and banking.

(iv) Agro-based Industries: dairy and sugar.

(v) Cottage Industries: pottery and basket weaving.

(vi) Co-operatives: Mother Dairy and Anand Milk Union Limited (Amul).

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