About This Section
This is a collection of important questions with complete model answers covering the whole of Chapter 6 — Manufacturing Industries. They are grouped by marks — 1-mark, 3-mark and 5-mark — for thorough Board preparation.
1-Mark Questions
Q1. What is manufacturing? Ans. The production of goods in large quantities from raw materials into more valuable products.
Q2. Where was the first cotton textile mill set up? Ans. In Mumbai in 1854.
Q3. Which industry is called the basic industry? Ans. The iron and steel industry.
Q4. Which city is known as the electronic capital of India? Ans. Bengaluru.
1-Mark Questions (continued)
Q5. Along which river is the jute industry concentrated? Ans. Along the Hugli river in West Bengal.
Q6. In what ratio are iron ore, coking coal and limestone required in steel-making? Ans. In the ratio 4 : 2 : 1.
Q7. Which is the ore used by the aluminium smelting industry? Ans. Bauxite.
Q8. Where was the first cement plant set up in India? Ans. In Chennai in 1904.
3-Mark Questions
Q9. Why is manufacturing considered the backbone of economic development? Ans. Manufacturing modernises agriculture and reduces dependence on farm income by providing jobs in secondary and tertiary sectors; it reduces poverty and regional disparities by bringing industry to backward areas; and by exporting manufactured goods it brings in foreign exchange. A high share of manufacturing in national income marks a prosperous economy.
3-Mark Questions (continued)
Q10. Why is the cotton textile industry closely linked with agriculture? Ans. The cotton textile industry is agro-based: it draws its raw material — raw cotton — directly from farms. It provides a market for cultivators and gives a living to many, and it supports several other activities such as ginning, dyeing, and the chemical and engineering trades. Thus it links the farm and the factory.
3-Mark Questions (continued)
Q11. State any three factors that decide the location of an industry. Ans. Industries are located where the cost of production is lowest. Key factors are: (1) availability of raw material (bulky, weight-losing materials pull industry close to their source); (2) cheap and skilled labour; and (3) power, capital, transport and market. Industries also cluster to gain agglomeration economies.
5-Mark Questions
Q12. Explain why the iron and steel industry is concentrated in the Chhota Nagpur plateau region. Ans. Most iron and steel plants — TISCO (Jamshedpur), Bokaro, Durgapur, Rourkela — lie in or near the Chhota Nagpur plateau because the region offers, within a small area: (1) high-grade iron ore; (2) good-quality coking coal from the Damodar valley; (3) cheap labour; (4) water from the Damodar and Subarnarekha rivers; and (5) market and port access (Kolkata). The bulky raw materials are cheapest to bring together here.
5-Mark Questions (continued)
Q13. What is industrial pollution? Describe its four main types. Ans. Industrial pollution is the degradation of the environment by industries. Its four types are: (1) Air pollution — smoke and gases (sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide) from factories; (2) Water pollution — organic and inorganic effluents dumped into rivers; (3) Thermal pollution — hot water and untreated waste released into rivers, and radioactive waste; and (4) Noise pollution — from machinery, generators and construction.
Q14. Suggest any five measures to control environmental degradation by industries. Ans. (1) Reuse and recycle water and harvest rainwater; (2) treat hot effluents before releasing them; (3) fit smokestacks with scrubbers, filters and electrostatic precipitators; (4) use silencers and generators of lower noise; and (5) practise afforestation — as done by NTPC, which uses ash-ponds and treats water at its power stations.