Industries in India are major contributing factors of high growth rate in the developing country. In India, there are many important industries like textiles, leather, automobiles, chemicals, petroleum refining & petrochemical, rubber, petroleum, steel, cement, textile, etc. These industries are major players of Indian economy. Small scale industries are also important factors of development in India. Small scale industries are manufacturing units or a retail unit which produce the commodities and services specifically for the local population. Industries are either for business and commercial purposes or purely for profit motive.
Agriculture is another important industry in India. Agriculture is the collective farming of any kind of land and its production of food, fuel and other domestic consumables. Agriculture produces food and fuel and all other essential things required for human survival. Some major products produced by agriculture in India are pulses, sugarcane, wheat, rice, milk, cud, animal feed, etc. Manufacturing of household and industrial appliances, small scale industries and construction material are also some of the important sectors of agriculture. The demand for processed agricultural products is growing rapidly in India.
Small scale industries manufacture different kinds of finished products in various forms like tools, textile products, etc. Some small industries specialize in producing small quantities of a particular product only. Some others produce finished industrial products and use raw materials to manufacture them. Some manufactures use both kinds of resources to produce a product.
The main products manufactured by small-scale industries are metal ores, cement, wood, textile fibres, small pump sets, iron wires, small-sized pipes, etc. The main manufacturing units of small-scale industries are petty entrepreneurs’ workshops, home-based businesses, small scale localities and cooperative industries. These workshops usually consist of a single owner workplace where the operator works on the production lines producing the final product. A home-based small scale industry produces final goods as home furnaces, car engines, gears, electronic machines, sports equipment, etc., from their own workshops or employes.
Most of the industrial products manufactured in India and almost all the merchandise imported into the country came from the small rural workshops and small scale localities. The production of tea plantation and jewelry is the prime product of small-scale industries of west and mid-west India respectively. The main industrial areas are described as follows: West Bengal (Bengal), Assam (India), Gujarat (India), Kerala (India), Uttaranchal (Uttar Pradesh), Bihar (India), Jharkhand (Rajasthan) and Delhi (India). Industries in the eastern part of the country are mainly involved in the production of rubber and leather.
Industries in India have become very competitive globally. This has led to a sharp reduction in the prices of the basic commodities. In this context, there has been an urgent need for enhancing the rate of efficiency and productivity of the small-scale industries of India. To achieve this, it is necessary to upgrade the infrastructure facilities such as water, electricity and other basic necessities of a factory or a small industrial unit. Industrial parks and co-operative manufacturing arrangements have helped many small-scale industries achieve efficient utilization of their productive capacity. Some of these industrial parks are set up as national or international facilities.
As far as the distribution of goods is concerned, two major categories are observed: the private sector and state-owned. Small-scale cottage industries produce items requiring skilled manpower and machines. These include footwear, embroidered textiles, jewelry, leather dressing, clothes and garments, etc., coming from cottage industries in the hinterlands. They also come under the category of small-scale industries in India. In order to compete in the global market, most of the small Indian private industries prefer to import products from countries like China and Vietnam.
Major Indian industries are based on the basic principles of modern economy. These include liberalization, globalization, outsourcing, and liberalization of trade. Some of the major Indian small and medium-sized industries are listed as follow: Central Gold Pool, Deccan Gymnics, Electro-Mechanical &ME Industry, Essar Group, Hindustan Shipyard, Jani Vipcoil, Jhilam Group, Kolkata Steel Industry, Mangeshi Steel, MTD (Methane Mittal), petroleum and chemicals, plating, rubber, steel, textile, etc. These major industries in India are providing jobs to millions of people in different parts of the country.