Industry of India. Industry and agriculture in India

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

One of the most developing countries in the world today is India. Industry and agriculture are largely state-owned. The role of these spheres in the formation of GDP is significant. If the first of them accounts for 29%, then the second - 32%. The largest share of GDP (about 39%) belongs to the service sector. The main industries of India are ferrous metallurgy, mechanical engineering, energy, light and chemical industries. They will be discussed further in more detail.

Metallurgy

Ferrous metallurgy is one of the key areas of the state economy. This is not surprising, since the country is rich in deposits of ore and coal. The most important center of the region was the city of Calcutta, the surroundings of which are often called the "Indian Ruhr". The largest metallurgical plants in the country are located mainly in the eastern states. In general, the industry works to meet the internal needs of the state. Of all the mined minerals, India exports only manganese, mica, bauxite and some iron ores.

Well developednon-ferrous metallurgy can be called aluminum smelting, which relies on its own large reserves of raw materials. The need for other non-ferrous metals is met through imports.

Engineering

This industry has made significant progress in recent years. Quite developed can be called such areas as car, ship, automotive and aviation construction. The main branches of India's industry are provided by its own machine-building complex. The country produces almost all types of equipment. More than 40 enterprises operate in this area, they are located in the largest cities of the state.

Textile industry

The textile industry in India has become the second largest source of employment in the country. According to analytical data, about 20 million local residents are now employed in it. In 2005, the government abolished a number of taxes and fees in the industry, which contributed to a significant influx of foreign and domestic investment. After that, in a very short period of time, this sector of the economy was transformed from a degrading to a rapidly developing one. Its rapid growth stopped in 2008. The reason was the global crisis and the decline in demand on world markets for textiles from India.

This industry has ceased to be attractive to investors, which has led to the reduction of about 800 thousand of the newly created jobs in the industry. Currentlythe authorities are taking a number of measures aimed at restricting the construction of weaving factories. This is done, first of all, in the interests of the development of small enterprises operating in this area.

Chemical industry

The cost of products annually produced by the chemical industry in India is an average of 32 billion US dollars. Currently, the industry is experiencing a number of problems, which are caused by high prices for raw materials and capital goods, as well as competition created by imported goods.

The profitability of this area began to gradually decline back in the nineties of the last century. Now the country is gradually developing the production of mineral fertilizers, chemical fibers, plastics and synthetic rubber. An area such as the pharmaceutical industry in India exports formulations and products at an average of 18 million dollars a year. The main problem of the industry is that only a small share of manufactured products is exported. The only area that continues to grow significantly now is fine organic synthesis.

Energy

Although India's energy industry is developing very rapidly, the domestic needs of the population in fuel are provided mainly by firewood and agricultural waste. Coal mining is established in the north-eastern part of the state. It is quite expensive to transport it to thermal power plants. Be that as it may, they account for about 60% of the electricity generated.

An essential step towards the creation of a modern energy system was the construction of hydroelectric and nuclear power plants. The share of the former in the volume of electricity produced is 38%, and the latter - 2%.

There is also oil in the bowels, but such an industry as the Indian oil industry is very poorly developed. Processing of "black gold" is much better organized, but it is based mainly on imported raw materials. The main such enterprises are located in major ports - Bombay and Madras.

Agriculture

Crop production dominates the structure of India's agriculture. The main food crops grown are wheat and rice. Industrial grades such as cotton, tea, sugar cane and tobacco play an important export role.

The dominance of plant cultivation is largely due to climatic conditions. The rainy summer season provides ideal conditions for growing cotton, rice and cane, while crops that are less dependent on moisture (barley and wheat) are sown in dry winters. Thus, crop production in India develops all year round. The state is fully self-sufficient in food crops.

Largely due to Hinduism, animal husbandry in the country is practically not developing. The fact is that this religion not only does not encourage the consumption of meat, but also calls even the processing of skins a “dirty” craft.

Conclusion

Industrial development in India is only gaining momentum. According to its absolute dimensionsthe state is among the ten world leaders. At the same time, the level of national product per capita is extremely low. Do not forget that India is an industrial-agrarian country that has retained an economy with predominantly agricultural production since colonial times.