Mineral Based Industry

Iron and Steel industry is the largest mineral-based industry in India.

It is called the backbone of all industries because it provides raw material for making industrial machinery, electrical machinery, defence equipment, railway tracks, railway engines, bridges, dams, shops, automobiles, houses and a host of other industrial and consumer goods.

An integrated steel plant is the one in which all the processes from providing raw materials, basic fuels, water supply, etc., to the conversion of steel, rolling, etc., are all done at one place.

For example- Bhilai Iron and Steel Plant, Bhilai.

Three factors which affect the location of an integrated steel plant are-

1. Availability of raw material — Usually the integrated iron and steel plants are located near the source of raw material.
2. Power supply — Adequate power supply facilities are important for working with various machines.
3. Labour force — Availability of cheap labour force is also important.

Three factors which have helped Jamshedpur to develop into India's major centre of steel production are-

1. Proximity to raw material — Jamshedpur is located close to -

   1. the iron ore deposits in Gurumahisani mines in Mayurbhanj district, Odisha and Noamundi mines in Singhbhum district, Jharkhand
   2. manganese deposits from Joda in Keonjhar district
   3. limestone, dolomite and fire clay from Sundargarh district, Odisha
   4. coal deposits in Jhari and Bokaro coalfields

2. Cheap Labour — Labour is employed from the densely populated valley of Ganga, mostly from the states of Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh.

3. Transport Facilities — Jamshedpur is well connected with roads and railways to the other parts of the country. Transport is facilitated by the Eastern Railways. It is also connected with the Kolkata port for exporting of finished steel.

Two major steel plants in the Public Sector are-

1. Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, Andhra Pradesh
2. Rourkela Steel Plant, Odisha

Bhilai Iron and Steel Plant was set up with Russian collaboration.

Mini Steel plants generally use ferrous scrap, pig iron or sponge iron as their raw material. They work through electric furnaces and have a capacity from 10,000 tonnes to about 5 lakh tonnes per year.

Their period of construction and gestation is also short. They are distributed in different parts of the country particularly in areas away from the integrated steel plants.

Visakhapatnam Steel plant is located in Andhra Pradesh.

Two advantages this steel plant has over the other steel plants in the public sector are-

1. Visakhapatnam Steel Plant is a modern integrated steel plant with the latest technology and some of the largest units.
2. Visakhapatnam’s modern protected harbour and deep land locked port facilitates import of raw materials and export of finished goods.

(i) Steel products need to be galvanised to make them rust free. This is done by galvanising iron with chromium, nickel and tungsten.

(ii) Besides iron, manganese is a very important raw material in the steel manufacture process as manganese is used for hardening of steel and also for removing impurities.

(iii) Mini-steel plants are located far from iron-ore deposits because mini steel plants use scrap iron from integrated steel plants, so they need not be located near the source of raw material.

Petrochemicals are important organic chemicals derived from petroleum products, LPG and coal.

Petrochemicals are cost effective, economically stable, cheaper as they are produced on a mass scale. Its raw material is easily available, not dependent on agricultural raw material as in the case of jute. Therefore, raw materials like wood, glass and metals are being replaced by petrochemical products.

(i) Two products made from petrochemicals are-

1. Plastic sheets
2. Resins and adhesives for industries

(ii) A petrochemical industry is usually located near an oil refinery which can supply its basic requirements of Naphtha or Ethylene and Benzene.

Electronic industry, with mass scale integration process, has produced computers, servers, displays, televisions and cameras, telephones etc. These devices help to capture and broadcast news, advertisements, cinema, educational programs etc., to a large section of the population over the country and overseas, thus changing the life style of the Indian masses.

Various new technologies like smart boards, projectors, video clips, pictures etc., are used to make learning easy and fun for the students. Further, in this Corona crisis, online classes provided to the students by the use of various online applications have helped the students to continue their education from home.

Thus, the electronic industry has made an impact on both media and education.

Two industrial towns which are connected with the production of iron and steel are-

1. Visakhapatnam
2. Jamshedpur

Mini steel plants cause less pollution than integrated steel plants because mini steel plants use electric furnaces while the integrated steel plants use coal to melt iron ore.

The difficulties experienced by the iron and steel industry in India are-

1. Capital intensive — Huge amount of capital is required by the iron and steel industry and the plants have a long gestation period.
2. Obsolete technology — The machinery being used in the iron and steel plants is outdated.
3. Limited availability of Coking coal — The coal reserves of India are limited. Many steel plants import coking coal.
4. Sick industrial units — Due to inadequate supply of power and sharp increase in the cost of raw material, many steel plants are experiencing sickness or have been closed down.
5. Control of Prices — The government has fixed the price for iron and steel which leaves little margin of profit for the manufacturers.
6. Inefficiently managed public sector — Many public sector plants are facing strikes, lockouts, energy crisis caused by heavy investment on social overheads, poor labour relations, inefficient management and underutilisation of capacity.
7. Heavy demand — To meet the increasing demand, large quantity of iron and steel has to be imported.

The iron and steel industry is concentrated largely in the Chota Nagpur belt because of the following reasons-

1. Iron and steel industry requires iron ore, coal, limestone and manganese which are available in close proximity.
2. Cheap labour is available to the industries from the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
3. Good network of roads and railway facilitates the movement of raw materials to iron and steel plants.

Iron and steel

Manganese

Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Explanation — Mineral based industries, like Iron and Steel industry, forms the backbone of industrial development as they provide raw material for industrial and consumer goods as well as infrastructure.

nickel

Pig iron

Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Explanation — Rourkela Steel Plant produces raw material used in the manufacture of fertilizers as it produces a large quantity of nitrogen as a by-product.

Steel Authority of India

Bhilai and Durgapur

Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Explanation — The Government of India is promoting and planning to set up more mini steel plants. These plants are dependent on electric power so they do not cause pollution.

TISCO

Jamshedpur

erstwhile USSR; Chhattisgarh

Both A and R are true but R does not explain A.

Explanation — Though India has huge deposits of high grade iron ore, her coal reserves are limited so Steel plant at Visakhapatnam has to import coal from Australia. However, these are two separate facts so Reason (R) does not explain Assertion (A).

Chhattisgarh

Korba

Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Explanation — PSUs are planing to increase investment in capacity building for the manufacture of petrochemicals. This is because they aim to reduce the reliance on imports and address the growing need for polymer products.

Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Explanation — Traditional raw materials are being replaced by petrochemical products because unlike traditional raw materials like cotton, jute, wood, etc. which are dependent on agriculture, raw materials of the petrochemical industry are derived from petroleum making them easily available, cost-effective, economically stable enabling cheaper mass produced products.

Sundargarh; Germany

Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Explanation — Bengaluru and Hyderabad are leading centres of software industries. This is due to the presence of multiple SEZs and IT Parks that directly contributes to the growth of software industry.

Sundargarh

All of them.

shore

Bailadila

Petrochemicals

Electronics: Kanpur

Sir Jamshedji Tata recognized the importance of steel in India's development and desired to establish a steel plant in the country. He acquired mining rights for rich iron ore deposits in the Chota Nagpur region and acquired land in Jamshedpur in Jharkhand, where the steel plant was established.

The factors that facilitated Sir Jamshedji Tata to set up the steel plant include the following:

1. Location — Jamshedpur is most ideally located with respect to iron ore, fuel and flux supplies.
2. Availability of Raw Materials — The plant obtains its requirements of iron ore from Gurumahisani mines, Odisha and from the Noamundi mines, Jharkhand. Manganese from Joda in Keonjhar district and limestone, dolomite and fire-clay from Sundargarh district, Odisha. Coal is obtained from the Jharia and Bokaro coalfields.
3. Power Supply — Coal is the main source of power for this plant.
4. Water Supply — Rivers Kharkai and Subarnarekha supply a continuous stream of water for cooling purposes.
5. Labour Force — The labour force is recruited from the densely populated valley of Ganga.
6. Market — The plant is located at a distance of 240 km from Kolkata.
7. Transport Facilities — Jamshedpur is well connected with roads and railways to the other parts of the country. It is also connected with the Kolkata port for exporting of finished steel.

The establishment of TISCO brought several benefits to India:

1. Industrialisation and Economic Growth
2. Infrastructure Development
3. Technological Advancement
4. Self-Reliance in Steel Production
5. Diversification of Industries
6. Social Development for the local community

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