Class 8 Geography


Industry

Cotton Textiles Industry

This is one of the oldest industries. Till the industrial revolution in the 18th century, manual labour was used for making cotton cloths. After the industrial revolution, power looms replaced handlooms and it helped in expansion of cotton textiles industry. The expansion of cotton textiles industry first took place in Britain and then in other parts of the world.

At present, India, China, Japan and USA are the major producers of cotton textiles.

Indian cotton textiles were in great demand because of their fine quality and craftsmanship. The Muslins of Dhaka, Chintzes of Masulipatnam, Calicos of Calicut and Gold-wrought cotton Burhanpur, Surat and Vadodara were very popular around the world.

But after the industrial revolution in Britain, the Indian cotton textiles could not compete with machine made cloths from Britain.

The first successful cotton textile mill was set up in Mumbai in 1854. The warm and moist climate of Mumbai, proximity to port, availability of raw material and skilled labour helped in rapid expansion of this industry in the region.

During early years, the cotton textiles industry flourished in Maharashtra and Gujarat. Humid climate of these states favoured the processing of cotton. But later, this industry spread to other parts of the country as well because humidity can be artificially created. Other important centres of cotton textiles are; Coimbatore, Kanpur, Chennai, Kolkata, Ludhiana, Puducherry and Panipat.

Ahmadabad

The first cotton textiles mill in Ahmadabad was set up in 1859. Ahmadabad quickly became the second largest textile city in India; after Mumbai. Hence, Ahmadabad is also known as the “Manchester of India”.

Location Advantage of Ahmadabad:

But of late, the textile mills of Ahmadabad are in decline. Emergence of new centres and non-upgradation of machines and technology in the mills of Ahmadabad are the main reasons for this decline.

Osaka

Osaka is also known as the “Manchester of Japan”.

Location Advantage of Osaka:

Information Technology

Storage, processing and distribution of information are the main tasks of information technology industry. Because of a series of technological, political and socio-economic factors; it has become a global industry. Silicon Valley in California (USA) and Bangalore in India are the major hubs of IT industry.

Location Advantage of Bangalore:

Location Advantage of Silicon Valley: Silicon Valley has more or less similar advantages as in case of Bangalore.

Some other important IT centres in India are; New Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Gurgaon, Pune, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Chandigarh.