Geography of India For RPSC RAS Prelims: Major Industrial Regions – There are eight major industrial regions of India. In these regions, more industries are concentrated because of their favorable geo-economic backgrounds. These areas will have manufacturing plants or industries on a large scale and provide the people more number of jobs.
Location of industries also depends on;
(i) Availability of infrastructure for transportation e.g. Cement and Iron industries are located near railway lines and
(ii) Government policies which encourage for the industrial development, e.g. BHEL unit in Haridwar in Uttarakhand, where neither infrastructure nor raw materials are available, was established purely on Government policies.
1. Which of the following is NOT a major industrial region in India?
(a) Mumbai-Pune
(b) Ahmedabad-Vadodara
(c) Bengaluru-Mysuru
(d) Kolkata-Howrah
Answer: d
Industrial Areas of India
Most experts divided India into eight main industrial regions when defining its boundaries. The industrial areas of India, as defined by Prof. R.L. Singh, are briefly described as follows:
- The Mumbai-Pune Industrial Region
- The Kolkata-Hugli Industrial Region
- The Ahmadabad -Vadodara Industrial Region
- The Madurai-Coimbatore-Bangalore Industrial Region
- The Chotanagpur Industrial Region
- The Agra-Delhi-Kalka-Saharanpur Industrial Region
- Vishakhapatnam-Guntur Region
- Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram Region
The Minor Industrial Areas of India
Apart from the industrial regions described there are 13 minor emerging industrial regions in the country:
1. Ambala- Amritsar
2. Jaipur- Ajmer
3. Indore- Dewas- Ujjain
4. Saharanpur-Muzaffarnagar- Bijnor
5. Kolhapur- South Kannada
6. Northern Malabar
7. Middle Malabar
8. Adilabad – Nizamabad
9. Prayag- Varanasi- Mirzapur
10. Bhojpur- Munger
11. Durga- Raipur
12. Bilaspur- Korba
13. Brahmaputra valley
Apart from the above Minor Industrial areas, some other famous Industrial areas in India are listed below:
- Kanpur-Lucknow Industrial Areas
- Assam valley Industrial Areas
- Darjeeling-Siliguri Industrial Areas
- North Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh Industrial Areas
- Indore-Ujjain Industrial Region
- Amritsar Jalandhar-Ludhiana Industrial Regi Industrial Areas
- Nagpur-Wardha Industrial Areas
- Dharwar-Belgaum Industrial Areas
2. The Mumbai-Pune industrial region is primarily known for which industry?
(a) Textiles
(b) Automobiles
(c) Pharmaceuticals
(d) Information Technology
Answer: a
A large majority of the textile industries in India are located in the Mumbai-Pune industrial region.
Even though textiles still remain important the other industries in the region include – petrochemical, automobile manufacturing, metals, electronics, engineering, food processing, and also a wide range of light manufacturing.
3. The Ahmedabad-Vadodara industrial region is a major center for which industry?
(a) Cotton textiles
(b) Steel production
(c) Petrochemicals
(d) Electronics
Answer: a
Ahmadabad -Vadodara Industrial Region is the country’s second-largest center for the manufacturing of cotton textiles. It specializes in engineering products, pharmaceuticals, and chemical sectors. Vadodara is a significant hub for petroleum and woolen textile products.
Major Industrial Regions of India
The eight major industrial regions of India are given below:
Hooghly Belt: Hooghly industrial region is the most predominant industrial region in India with highly concentrated Jute industry.
Mumbai-Pune Belt: Mumbai Pune industrial region is one more important major industrial region in India where Cotton textile industries are heavily concentrated.
Ahmedabad-Vadodara Belt: Ahmedabad Vadodara industrial region is also one of the industrial areas in India where Cotton textile industry is heavily concentrated.
Bangalore-Tamil Nadu Belt: Cotton textile industry is heavily concentrated. The other important industries in Bangalore Tamil Nadu industrial region are Silk, Computer manufacturing,
Chota Nagpur Plateau Region: Chota Nagpur Plateau industrial region is concentrated with metallurgical and mining industries.
Gurugram-Delhi-Meerut Belt: In Gurgaon Delhi Meerut industrial region, the industries established are market oriented.
Vishakhapatnam-Guntur Belt: The industries that are developed in Visakhapatnam Guntur industrial region include Paper, Fertilizers, Sugar, Cement, Aluminum, Steel, Petrochemical, Engineering goods, etc. The natural gas that is found in Krishna-Godavari basin region helps in the growth of this industrial belt in India.
Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram Belt: Of all the 8 major industrial regions of India, Kollam Thiruvananthapuram industrial region is a relatively smaller industrial region dominated by agricultural processing and market oriented industries.