Class 10 Geography Chapter 1 Practice Question Answers - Contemporary India - II

Q1: Why is the ‘least cost’ known as decision making factor for ideal location of an industry?
Ans: Least cost is the key factor that determines the location of an industry because industry tends to be located at a place where factors of production are either available or can be arranged at low cost.

Q2: Why has the ‘National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council’ been set up?
Ans: National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) has been set up with the objective of appropriate policy intervention, by the Government and renewed efforts, by the industry to improve productivity and achieve its target over the next decade.

Q3: Which two prime factors are important for the location of ‘Aluminium Smelting’ industry?
Ans: The two prime factors for the location of aluminium smelting industry are:

• Regular and cheap supply of electricity.
• Assured supply of raw material at minimum cost.

Q4: Explain any three objectives of the ‘National Jute Policy 2005’.
Ans: In 2005, the National Jute Policy was adopted with the aim of:

• Increasing productivity
• Growing better quality of jute
• Higher yield per hectare and better price for jute goods

Q5: Classify industries on the basis of capital investment. How are they different from one another?Explain with examples.
Ans: On the basis of capital investment, the industries are classified into small scale industry and large scale industry.

• The maximum investment in small scale industry is upto ? 1 crore, e.g., toy industry.
• If the investment is more than one crore rupees, then it is known as large scale industry, e.g., iron and steel industry.

Q6: “The textile industry is the only industry in the country which is self-reliant and complete in the value chain”. Justify the statement.
Ans: The textile industry is the only industry in the country which is self-relaint and complete in the value chain i.e. from raw materials to the highest value added products.
The statement can be justified as follows:

• Textile industry is dependent on agriculture and provides jobs to farmers, cotton boll pluckers and workers engaged in ginning, spinning, weaving, dying, packaging, tailoring and sewing. The industry by creating demand support industries like dyeing.
• It contributes significantly to industrial production. India h^s world-class production in spinning and capable of using all the fibers that are produced.
• Textile industry has been a major foreign exchange earner with increase in foreign trade across the world.
• It contributes significantly to the National GDP.

Q7: Suggest any three steps to minimise the environmental degradation caused by the industrial development in India.
Ans: Environmental degradation can be minimised by

• Proper fuel selection and utilisation, e.g., CNG should be used in automobiles instead of diesel or petrol.
• Equipments to control aerosol emissions like inertial seprators, filters, precipitators and scrubbers should be used.
• Smoke can be prevented by the use of oil instead of coal in industries.

Q8: Classify industries on the basis of their main role. How are they different from each other?
Ans: According to their main role the industries are classfied as:

• Basic or key industries. These industries supply their raw materials to manu¬facture other goods, e.g., iron and steel, copper smelting etc.
• Consumer industries. These industries produce goods for direct consumption by consumers, e.g., sugar, fans paper, toothpaste, etc.

Q9: Why are sugar mills concentrated in sugarcane producing areas? Explain any three problems faced by sugar industry in India.
Ans: The sugar.industries are concentrated in the sugar producing areas because the raw materials (sugarcane) used by this industry is bulky. To reduce the cost of transporting sugarcane to sugar industries, they are concentrated in sugarcane producing areas.
The three problems faced by the sugar industry in India are:

• Old and inefficient methods of production
• Delay in transporting sugarcane to the factories
• The need to make maximum use of baggase.
• Above all seasonal nature of the industry is also a major issue

Q10: Explain with examples, how do industries give boost to the agriculture sector?
Ans: The economic strength of the country depends upon the development of manufacturing industries. Manufacturing industries give major boost to agriculture in the following ways.

• Manufacturing industries not only help in modernising agriculture, but also reduces the dependence of people on agricultural income by providing jobs in secondary and tertiary sectors.
• Agro industries boost agriculture by increasing its productivity. They depend on raw materials from agricultural sector.
• The industries sell their products like irrigation pumps, fertilisers, insecticides, pesticides, machines and tools to the farmers. The manufacturing industries thus make production process efficient.
• Industries boost agriculture by transporting the goods produced to various markets.

Q11: Why has the ‘Chotanagpur Plateau Region’ the maximum concentration of iron and steel industries? Analyse the reasons.
Ans: The Chotanagpur region has the maximum concentration of Iron and Steel industry due to various locational advantages.

• Iron and Steel industry requires, coal, limestone and manganese which are available in close proximity to the region.
• Availability of cheap labour from adjoining states of Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha.
• The region is well connected with good network of roads and railways.
• Nearness to huge market for iron and steel goods.
• Nearness to the port of Kolkata provides market, financial services, consultancy services, insurance and export of iron and steel goods.
• The rivers provide the cheapest inland water transport for iron and steel goods. (any three)
• Hence there is maximum concentration of iron and steel plants like Jamshedpur, Durgapur, Burnpur, Bokaro and Rourkela in the Chotanagpur region.

Q12: Describe three major problems faced by the weaving and processing sectors in cotton textile industry.
Ans: The three major problems faced by the weaving and processing sectors in cotton textile industry are:

• Most of the production is carried out in fragmented small units.
• Power supply is erratic in nature.
• Machinery used by the weavers is outdated.
• The labour has low productivity.
• Textile industry faces stiff competition from synthetic fibre industry.
• Much of the high quality yarn is not used by our weavers as it is exported.

Q13: Explain any five factors affecting the location of an industry.
Ans: The following factors affect the location of an industry:

• Availability of raw materials: Close proximity to raw material, regular supply at cheap cost are of utmost significance, e.g., concentration of heavy industries in Chattisgarh.
• Labour: Modern industry requires both skilled and unskilled labour at low cost. It also determines the location of industry, e.g., cotton textile industry in Maharashtra.
•  Capital: Industries are capital intensive. Banks and other financial institutions, insurance etc. play an important role in setting up production units.
• Power: All production units depend on one or other sources of power like coal, oil, gas etc. Regular and cheap supply of power is required to keep industries operational, e.g., iron and steel industries near Raniganj and Jharia coal fields.
• Market: Goods manufactured need to be sold in the market to maintain the demand and supply.

Q14: Why was the cotton textile industry concentrated in the cotton growing belt in the early years? Explain.
Ans: The cotton textile industry was mainly concentrated in the cotton growing areas because of the following reasons:

• Abundant availability of raw cotton due to favourable climate and presence of black soil.
• Huge market for cotton textile in and around Mumbai.
• Well-developed means of transport including the port facilities in Mumbai.
• Cheap labour from the adjoining areas.
• Mild and moist climate is favourable for spinning the cotton yarn.

Q15: What is manufacturing sector? Describe the four types of manufacturing sectors on the basis of ownership.
Ans: Manufacturing sector refers to the secondary sector of the economy deals with production of goods in large quantities with the help of machine, which converts the raw materials into valuable products. On the basis of ownership, manufacturing is classified into four types:

• Public sector: Public sector industries are owned and run by government agencies like BHEL, SAIL etc.
• Private sector: Private sector industries are owned and run by individuals or a group of individuals. Example: TISCO, Bajaj Auto Ltd.
• Joint sector: Joint sector industries are jointly run by the state and individuals or a group of individuals. Example: OIL (Oil India Limited) is jointly owned by private and public sector.
• Cooperative sector: Cooperative sector industries are owned and run by the producers or suppliers of raw materials, workers or both or cooperative societies who pool their resources. They share the profit or loss proportionately, for example, sugar mills, coir industry and handloom textiles.

Q16: Describe any five factors responsible for the concentration of iron and steel industry in and around Chotanagpur Plateau region.
Ans: Chotanagpur region is the hub of many iron and steel plants because:

• Iron and steel industry requires iron ore, coal, limestone and manganese which are available in close proximity.
• Good network of roads and railway facilitates the movement of raw materials to iron and steel plants.
• Rivers provide the cheapest means of inland water transport for iron and steel goods.
• Nearness to the city of Kolkata provides huge market, banking, insurance and financial services for iron and steel plants.
• Availability of cheap labour from Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Chhatttisgarh.

Hence due to these locational advantages iron and steel plants like Jamshedpur, Durgapur, Burnpur, Bokaro and Rourkela are confined to the Chotanagpur region.

Q17: ‘Environmental degradation has been everywhere.’ Explain any three values that can help to prevent environmental degradation.
Ans: Following values can be adopted to prevent environmental degradation.

• Proper water management: Stress on recycling and reuse of water and proper treatement of discharged water.
• Control air pollution: Spread awareness to install electrostatic precipitators, fabric filters in factories. Encourage use of oil and gas instead of coal.
• Educate people for proper management of solid waste. Separate biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste and dispose accordingly. Non-biodegradable waste can be recycled and reused.

Q18: Describe the three major problems faced by iron and steel industry in India.
Ans: Though India is an important producer of iron and steel, we are not able to perform to our full potential because of the following reasons:

• High cost and limited availability of coking coal.
• Labour engaged in production has low productivity.
• Irregular supply of electricity add up to its problems of production.
• Technological development in iron and steel industries is less.
• Resource allocation for research and development in production of steel are comparatively very less.

Q19: ‘Production and consumption of steel is often regarded as the index of a country’s development’. Examine the statement.
Ans: Production and consumption of steel is regarded as the index of a country’s development because of the following reasons:

• The production and consumption of iron and steel reflects the level of industrialisation and economic development of a country.
• All the other industries depend on it for their machinery. It provides raw material for making industrial machinery, electrical machinery, defence equipments, bridges, dams, shops, houses, etc.
• Vehicles carrying goods from one place to another are also made up of steel. It is because of these vehicles that our goods are transported from one place to another.
• Steel is required to manufacture a variety of consumer goods, like bicycles, fans, furniture, tractors, etc.
• It is the basic unit of economy. All buildings and infrastructures are constructed using iron and steel.

Q20: Classify industries into two categories on the basis of source of raw material used. Mention two features of each category.
Ans: On the basis of sources of raw material used, industries are classified into:

• Agro based industries: These are dependent on raw material produced in the agricultural sector. These industries are labour intensive.
• Mineral based: These industries produce goods which are used in other industries. These industries are capital intensive.