Manufacturing Industries Class 10: Notes and Board Answers

What Manufacturing Industries is about

Weightage: Geography carries 20 of the 80 theory marks; this chapter shares them with Resources and Development, Forest and Wildlife Resources, Water Resources, Agriculture, Minerals and Energy Resources and Lifelines of National Economy.Source: CBSE Social Science syllabus 2026-27, Geography

In real board papers: asked in 14 of the 21 board papers we hold (2023 to 2026), on average 3 marks per paper. See the questions

Key concepts

Manufacturing and why it matters

NCERT section Importance of Manufacturing

Manufacturing means producing goods in large quantities by processing raw materials into more valuable products. Examples are paper from wood, sugar from sugarcane and aluminium from bauxite. It belongs to the secondary sector.

Why is it called the backbone of development? There are four reasons.

• It helps modernise agriculture and gives people jobs in the secondary and tertiary sectors, so they depend less on farm income.
• Industrial growth is needed to remove unemployment and poverty. This was the idea behind public and joint sector industries, which were also set up in tribal and backward areas to reduce regional disparities.
• Exports of manufactured goods expand trade and bring in foreign exchange.
• Countries that turn raw materials into a variety of high-value goods become prosperous.

Agriculture and industry move together. Agro-industries buy farm raw materials and sell farmers pumps, fertilisers, pesticides, PVC pipes and tools, which raise farm productivity. In a globalised world, Indian goods must also match international quality to compete.

Worked example

Farming and manufacturing depend on each other. Justify this with three points.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Agro-based industries depend on agriculture for raw materials such as cotton, jute and sugarcane. (1)
2. Industries sell farmers inputs such as irrigation pumps, fertilisers, pesticides, PVC pipes and tools, which raise farm productivity. (1)
3. Manufacturing makes farm production more efficient and reduces people's heavy dependence on farm income by giving jobs in other sectors. (1)

Answer: - Agro-based industries get raw materials like cotton, jute and sugarcane from farms.
- In return, industries supply pumps, fertilisers, pesticides, pipes and tools that raise farm productivity.
- Industry makes farm production efficient and gives jobs, so people depend less on farm income alone.

Classification of industries

NCERT section Classification of Industries

Grouping industries by one criterion at a time makes them easier to understand. The NCERT text uses five bases.

• Source of raw material: agro-based (cotton, jute, silk, woollen textiles, rubber, sugar, tea, coffee, edible oil) and mineral-based (iron and steel, cement, aluminium, machine tools, petrochemicals).
• Main role: basic or key industries supply their products as raw materials for making other goods (iron and steel, copper smelting, aluminium smelting). Consumer industries make goods for direct use (sugar, toothpaste, paper, sewing machines, fans).
• Capital investment: a small scale industry is defined by the maximum investment allowed on its assets, at present ₹ one crore.
• Ownership: public (BHEL, SAIL), private (TISCO, Bajaj Auto Ltd., Dabur Industries), joint (Oil India Ltd.), and cooperative, owned by producers of raw materials, workers or both, who share profits or losses (sugar in Maharashtra, coir in Kerala).
• Bulk and weight: heavy (iron and steel) and light (electrical goods).

One industry can fall into several groups at once. Always state the basis you are using.

Worked example

Imagine a sugar mill in Maharashtra owned and run by the sugarcane growers of the area, who share its profits and losses. Classify this industry on three different bases and give a reason for each.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Source of raw material: agro-based, because its raw material, sugarcane, comes from agriculture. (1)
2. Main role: consumer industry, because sugar is used directly by consumers. (1)
3. Ownership: cooperative sector, because it is owned by the producers of the raw material, who share profits and losses. (1)

Answer: - Agro-based: it uses sugarcane, a farm product.
- Consumer industry: sugar goes straight to consumers for direct use.
- Cooperative sector: the cane growers own and run it and share profits or losses in proportion.

Textile industry and cotton textiles

NCERT section Cotton Textiles

The textile industry holds a unique place because it adds a lot to industrial production, jobs and foreign exchange. It is the only industry in India that is self-reliant and complete in the value chain, from raw material to the highest value-added products.

In ancient India cotton cloth was made by hand spinning and handloom weaving. Power-looms came after the 18th century. Traditional industries suffered in colonial times because they could not compete with mill cloth from England. The first successful textile mill came up in Mumbai in 1854.

Early mills were concentrated in the cotton belt of Maharashtra and Gujarat. The reasons were raw cotton, market, transport with port facilities, labour and a moist climate.

Today spinning is centralised in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. Weaving is decentralised so that traditional skills and designs in cotton, silk, zari and embroidery can be used. The result is a mismatch: spinning is world class, but weaving cannot use much of the high quality yarn, so fabric quality stays low. Handspun khadi gives large scale home employment, which is why keeping mill loomage lower than handloom and powerloom protects jobs.

Worked example

Explain why the cotton textile industry was first concentrated in Maharashtra and Gujarat, and why its weaving sector supplies low quality fabric. (5 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Availability of raw cotton in the cotton growing belt of these states. (1)
2. A ready market for cloth and good transport, including accessible port facilities. (1)
3. Availability of labour and a moist climate suited to the industry. (1)
4. Weaving is highly decentralised (handloom, powerloom and mills) to keep traditional skills and designs alive. (1)
5. So weaving cannot use much of the high quality yarn produced by world-class spinning, and fabric quality remains low. (1)

Answer: Localisation in Maharashtra and Gujarat:
- Raw cotton was available in this cotton growing belt.
- There was a market for cloth and good transport, including port facilities.
- Labour was available and the moist climate suited the industry.

Low quality weaving:
- Weaving is deliberately decentralised across handlooms, powerlooms and mills to make use of traditional skills and designs.
- Because of this scattered structure, weavers cannot use much of the high quality yarn that India's world-class spinning produces, so the fabric supplied is of lower quality.

Jute textiles

NCERT section Jute Textiles

India is the largest producer of raw jute and jute goods. It is the second largest exporter after Bangladesh. Jute is known as the 'Golden Fibre'. The first jute mill was set up at Rishra, near Kolkata, in 1855. After Partition in 1947 the mills stayed in India, but three-fourths of the jute growing area went to Bangladesh, then East Pakistan.

Most mills lie in West Bengal, in a narrow belt along the Hugli river. Learn the reasons as separate points, because the board asks them as a 5-mark answer:

• The jute growing areas are close by.
• Water transport is cheap, backed by a good network of railways, roadways and waterways that bring raw jute to mills.
• There is plenty of water to process raw jute.
• Cheap labour comes from West Bengal and nearby Bihar, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.
• Kolkata, a large urban centre, provides banking, insurance and port facilities for exporting jute goods.

Notice the logic: raw material, transport, water, labour and services all meet in one basin.

Worked example

Assertion (A): Most jute mills of India are located in a narrow belt along the Hugli river in West Bengal.
Reason (R): After Partition in 1947, about three-fourths of the jute producing area went to Bangladesh.
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true but R is false.
(d) A is false but R is true. (1 mark)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Check A: the NCERT text places most jute mills in West Bengal in a narrow belt along the Hugli, so A is true.
2. Check R: the text says three-fourths of the jute producing area went to Bangladesh after Partition, so R is true.
3. Link: the location is explained by nearby jute areas, cheap water transport, water for processing, cheap labour and Kolkata's services. The loss of jute area does not explain why mills cluster on the Hugli, so R does not explain A. (1)

Answer: (b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.

Sugar industry

NCERT section Sugar Industry

India is the second largest producer of sugar in the world and first in gur and khandsari. Sugarcane, the raw material, is bulky, and its sucrose content falls during haulage. So mills must stay close to the cane fields.

Mills are spread over ten states, from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab and Haryana in the north to Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh in the south, with Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh in between. About 60 per cent of them are in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

The industry is seasonal, so it suits the cooperative sector. In a cooperative, the cane growers themselves own the mill and share profits and losses. That keeps the cane supply steady and lets the members carry the seasonal ups and downs together.

In recent years mills have tended to shift to the southern and western states, especially Maharashtra, for three reasons:

• Cane grown there has a higher sucrose content.
• The cooler climate gives a longer crushing season.
• Cooperatives are more successful in these states.

These two ideas, weight loss in transport and the southward shift, are the reasoning points examiners look for.

Worked example

Sugar mills are tending to shift to the southern and western states of India. Give three reasons for this shift, and explain why the sugar industry suits the cooperative sector. (5 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Cane in these states has a higher sucrose content. (1)
2. The cooler climate ensures a longer crushing season. (1)
3. Cooperatives are more successful in these states, especially Maharashtra. (1)
4. The industry is seasonal in nature. (1)
5. In a cooperative, producers of raw material pool resources and share profits or losses proportionately, which suits a seasonal industry. (1)

Answer: Reasons for the shift:
- Sugarcane grown in the south and west has a higher sucrose content.
- The cooler climate there allows a longer crushing season.
- Cooperatives work more successfully in these states, especially Maharashtra.

Why cooperatives suit sugar:
- Sugar milling is seasonal.
- In a cooperative, the cane growers own the mill, pool their resources and share profits or losses in proportion. This keeps the cane supply assured and spreads the risk of a seasonal business among its members.

Iron and steel industry

NCERT section Iron and Steel Industry

Iron and steel is a basic industry. Every other industry, heavy, medium or light, depends on it for machinery. Steel is used for engineering goods, construction material, defence, medical, telephonic and scientific equipment and many consumer goods. That is why steel production and consumption are often treated as an index of a country's development.

It is also a heavy industry. Both its raw materials and finished goods are heavy and bulky, so transport costs are high. Iron ore, coking coal and limestone are needed in a ratio of about 4 : 2 : 1, with some manganese to harden the steel. So the ideal location cuts the cost of moving bulky raw materials, and also has good transport to send finished steel to markets.

The Chhotanagpur plateau has the maximum concentration of iron and steel plants because of:

• low cost of iron ore
• high grade raw materials close by
• cheap labour
• vast growth potential in the home market

Bhilai is a public sector steel plant in Chhattisgarh. For the map, learn Durgapur, Bokaro, Jamshedpur, Bhilai, Vijayanagar and Salem from the NCERT map.

Worked example

Imagine a company planning a new steel plant. Using the raw material ratio of the industry, explain what it should consider while choosing the site, and why the Chhotanagpur plateau suits this industry.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Iron ore, coking coal and limestone are needed in a ratio of about 4 : 2 : 1, and all are heavy and bulky, so the site should keep transport costs of raw materials low. (1)
2. Finished steel is also heavy, so the site needs an efficient transport network to reach markets and consumers. (1)
3. Chhotanagpur offers low cost iron ore, high grade raw materials nearby, cheap labour and a large home market. (1)

Answer: - Iron ore, coking coal and limestone (about 4 : 2 : 1) are heavy and bulky, so the plant should be where these can be brought cheaply.
- Heavy finished steel needs efficient transport to markets.
- Chhotanagpur suits this: low cost iron ore, high grade raw materials nearby, cheap labour and huge home market potential.

Aluminium, chemical, fertilizer and cement industries

NCERT section Aluminium Smelting; Chemical Industries; Fertilizer Industry; Cement Industry

These are mineral-based or closely linked industries, and each has its own location logic.

Aluminium smelting is India's second most important metallurgical industry. Aluminium is light, resists corrosion, conducts heat well, is malleable and becomes strong when mixed with other metals. It is used for aircraft, utensils and wires, and replaces steel, copper, zinc and lead in many industries. Its raw material, bauxite, is a bulky dark reddish rock. Location depends on two prime factors: uninterrupted power and a dependable, low-cost supply of bauxite.

Chemical industries are growing fast. Inorganic chemicals include sulphuric acid, nitric acid, alkalies, soda ash and caustic soda, and these plants are widely spread. Organic chemicals include petrochemicals, and those plants are located near oil refineries or petrochemical plants. The industry is its own largest consumer.

Fertilizers include nitrogenous (mainly urea), phosphatic, DAP and complex NPK fertilizers. Potash is entirely imported because India has no commercially usable reserves. The industry spread after the Green Revolution.

Cement needs bulky limestone, silica and gypsum, plus coal, electric power and rail transport. The first plant was set up in Chennai in 1904. Plants in Gujarat have access to Gulf markets.

Worked example

Assertion (A): India imports the entire quantity of potash needed by its fertilizer industry.
Reason (R): Potash is a nitrogenous fertilizer produced in India mainly in the form of urea.
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true but R is false.
(d) A is false but R is true. (1 mark)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Check A: the NCERT text says potash is entirely imported, so A is true.
2. Check R: urea is the main nitrogenous fertilizer; potash (K) is a separate nutrient, and India has no commercially usable potash reserves. So R is false.
3. Choose: A true, R false. (1)

Answer: (c) A is true but R is false.

Automobile and IT and electronics industries

NCERT section Automobile Industry; Information Technology and Electronics Industry

Two points matter most here: liberalisation raised the demand for vehicles, and the IT industry's main impact has been on employment.

Automobiles give quick transport of goods, services and passengers. India makes trucks, buses, cars, motorcycles, scooters, three-wheelers and multi-utility vehicles. After liberalisation, new and contemporary models came in. These stimulated demand, so the industry grew well, including passenger cars and two and three-wheelers. Centres include Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore, Hyderabad, Jamshedpur and Bengaluru.

Electronics covers products from transistor sets and televisions to telephones, cellular telecom, telephone exchanges, radars and computers. Bengaluru has emerged as the electronic capital of India. Other centres are Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow and Coimbatore. The major IT concentration is at Bengaluru, Noida, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune.

The biggest impact of the IT industry has been on employment generation. Continuing growth in both hardware and software is the key to its success. For the map, learn the software technology parks: Noida, Gandhinagar, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram.

Worked example

How did liberalisation help the automobile industry, and what has been the major impact of the IT and electronics industry? Explain.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. After liberalisation, new and contemporary models came into the market and stimulated demand for vehicles. (1)
2. This led to healthy growth of the industry, including passenger cars and two and three-wheelers. (1)
3. The IT and electronics industry's major impact has been employment generation, sustained by continuing growth in hardware and software. (1)

Answer: - Liberalisation brought new, contemporary vehicle models, which raised demand.
- Rising demand led to healthy growth in passenger cars and two and three-wheelers.
- The IT and electronics industry's major impact is employment generation, and growth in hardware and software keeps it successful.

Industrial pollution and its control

NCERT section Industrial Pollution and Environmental Degradation; Control of Environmental Degradation

Industries help growth, but they also pollute air, water, land and create noise. Thermal power plants are among the polluters.

• Air: undesirable gases such as sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide, and particles like dust, mist and smoke from chemical and paper factories, brick kilns, refineries and smelters. Toxic gas leaks, like the Bhopal Gas tragedy, have long-term effects.
• Water: paper, pulp, chemical, textile and dyeing industries, refineries, tanneries and electroplating units release dyes, acids, salts and heavy metals like lead and mercury. Heated water let out before it cools causes thermal pollution.
• Land: dumped glass, chemicals, effluents and garbage make soil useless, and rain carries pollutants into groundwater.
• Noise: causes stress, hearing impairment, higher heart rate and blood pressure.

Control links to each type. Reuse and recycle water, harvest rainwater and treat hot water and effluents before release. Effluent treatment has three phases: primary (mechanical), secondary (biological) and tertiary (biological, chemical and physical, with recycling). Regulate groundwater use legally. Fit electrostatic precipitators, fabric filters, scrubbers and inertial separators. Use oil or gas instead of coal. Fit silencers and use earplugs.

Sustainable development strategies (NTPC shows the way): sustainable development means joining economic growth with care for the environment. NTPC, a major power corporation with ISO 14001 certification for its Environment Management System, works to protect water, oil, gas and fuels where it sets up plants. Its methods give you a ready list:

• Make the best use of equipment by adopting the latest techniques and upgrading old machines.
• Cut waste by using as much ash as possible.
• Grow green belts to keep the ecological balance.
• Manage ash ponds, recycle ash water and manage liquid waste.
• Monitor the ecology, review it and keep an online database for every power station.

Worked example

Suppose a factory on the edge of a town drains hot water and untreated effluents into a river, emits smoke from burning coal and runs noisy generators. Suggest measures to control each problem. (5 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Treat hot water and effluents before releasing them into the river. (1)
2. Treat effluents in three phases: primary by mechanical means, secondary by biological process, tertiary by biological, chemical and physical processes with recycling. (1)
3. Reduce water use by using the same water again in more than one stage and by harvesting rainwater. (1)
4. Fit smoke stacks with electrostatic precipitators, fabric filters, scrubbers or inertial separators, and use oil or gas instead of coal. (1)
5. Fit generators with silencers, redesign machinery to cut noise and use noise absorbing material and earplugs. (1)

Answer: - Hot water and effluents: cool and treat them before release into the river.
- Treatment: primary (screening, sedimentation), secondary (biological) and tertiary (biological, chemical, physical with recycling).
- Water use: reuse water in several stages; harvest rainwater.
- Smoke: fit electrostatic precipitators, fabric filters, scrubbers or inertial separators; switch from coal to oil or gas.
- Noise: fit silencers on generators, redesign machinery and use noise absorbing material and earplugs.

Manufacturing Industries in real life

Each concept, met in an everyday situation. Read the situation, answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Topics in this chapter

• Importance and Classification of IndustriesComing soon
• Agro-based Industries: Textiles and Sugar
• Iron and Steel Industry
• Other Mineral-based and Chemical IndustriesComing soon
• IT and Electronics IndustryComing soon
• Industrial Pollution and Its Control

Manufacturing Industries: key facts

Manufacturing

Producing goods in large quantities by processing raw materials into more valuable products.

Use for 'What is manufacturing?' in 1-2 mark questions.

Basic or key industry

Supplies its products as raw materials to make other goods, e.g. iron and steel, aluminium smelting.

Always add one example; do not confuse with heavy industry.

Cooperative sector

Owned and run by	producers of raw material, workers or both
Profits or losses	shared
Examples	sugar in Maharashtra, coir in Kerala

Use in ownership-based classification and sugar industry answers.

Small scale industry

Defined by maximum investment allowed on assets of a unit: at present ₹ one crore.

The basis is capital investment, not number of workers.

1854

First successful textile mill established in Mumbai.

Cotton textiles history MCQs.

1855

First jute mill set up at Rishra, near Kolkata.

Jute history MCQs; Rishra is the place.

1904

First cement plant set up in Chennai.

Cement MCQs.

Value chain

Textiles: the only self-reliant industry complete from raw material to highest value-added product.

Use when asked why the textile industry holds a unique position.

Jute in the Hugli basin

Jute areas nearby, cheap water transport, water for processing, cheap labour, Kolkata's banking, insurance and port.

The five-point answer for jute location.

Sugar shift to south and west

Higher sucrose content, cooler climate with longer crushing season, more successful cooperatives.

Use in 2- and 5-mark 'why the shift' answers.

Steel raw material ratio

Iron ore : coking coal : limestone = about 4 : 2 : 1, plus manganese to harden steel.

Explains why iron and steel is heavy and location-sensitive.

Chhotanagpur plateau

Maximum iron and steel concentration: low cost iron ore, high grade raw materials nearby, cheap labour, large home market.

Location factor questions on steel.

Aluminium location

Uninterrupted power plus a dependable, low-cost supply of bauxite.

The two prime factors; write both.

Organic chemical plants

Located near oil refineries or petrochemical plants.

Contrast with inorganic chemical plants, which are widely spread.

Thermal pollution of water

Heated water from factories and power plants reaching rivers or ponds while still hot.

Definition questions and pollution answers.

Effluent treatment phases

Primary: mechanical; secondary: biological; tertiary: biological, chemical and physical with recycling.

Use in 2-mark and 5-mark pollution-control answers.

Manufacturing Industries: map work

The places on the official CBSE map list for this chapter. Find each one on an outline map of India and practise marking it.

How the board asks Manufacturing Industries

The question patterns to expect, and the method that works for each.

Tricks to remember Manufacturing Industries

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

• Steel ratio 4 : 2 : 1

  'Iron Comes Late' in descending order: Iron ore 4, Coking coal 2, Limestone 1. Manganese is the hardener.

  Use it when: Recall the raw material ratio for iron and steel answers and MCQs.

• Jute in the Hugli: J-W-W-L-K

  Jute areas near, Water transport cheap, Water for processing, Labour cheap, Kolkata services and port.

  Use it when: Five points for the 5-mark jute location answer.

• Sugar goes south: S-C-C

  Sucrose higher, Climate cooler (longer crushing season), Cooperatives more successful.

  Use it when: The three reasons for the shift of sugar mills.

• Dates in order: 54, 55, 1904

  Cloth 1854 Mumbai, then jute 1855 Rishra, then cement 1904 Chennai. Textiles first, then the 'golden' neighbour, then concrete much later.

  Use it when: Date MCQs.

• Effluent treatment M-B-BCP

  Primary is Mechanical, secondary is Biological, tertiary is Biological plus Chemical plus Physical, with recycling.

  Use it when: Pollution control answers asking for treatment phases.

• Basic vs heavy check

  Ask two questions: Does it feed other industries? Then basic. Are its goods bulky? Then heavy. Iron and steel says yes to both.

  Use it when: Avoid mixing up the role-based and weight-based classifications.

Manufacturing Industries: board-level solved questions

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Cover the solution, write your own, then compare step by step.

Case-study practice (Section E style)

Read the situation, then answer every part. In the board paper this is a 4-mark question split into 1 + 1 + 2 marks.

Where the marks are

How a typical answer is split into step marks. Show every step: a right final answer alone rarely earns full marks.

Where students lose marks in Manufacturing Industries

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

• ✗Mistake: Mixing up basic and heavy industry

  Iron and steel is both, so students think the words mean the same thing.

  Wrong working

  Basic industries are those which use heavy raw materials, e.g. iron and steel.

  Right working

  Basic industries supply their products as raw materials to make other goods, e.g. iron and steel, aluminium smelting.

  ✓Do this: Basic is about role (feeds other industries); heavy is about bulk and weight. Define by the right basis.

  Usually costs: 1 mark in a 2-mark definition.

• ✗Mistake: Wrong reasons for the sugar shift

  Students guess general geography reasons like rainfall or soil instead of the NCERT points.

  Wrong working

  Sugar mills are shifting south because the south gets more rainfall and has fertile soil.

  Right working

  Cane in the south and west has higher sucrose content, the cooler climate gives a longer crushing season, and cooperatives are more successful there.

  ✓Do this: Learn the three NCERT reasons exactly: sucrose, climate, cooperatives.

  Usually costs: 1 to 2 marks in a 2- or 5-mark answer.

• ✗Mistake: Writing the steel ratio in the wrong order

  The numbers are remembered but not which material goes with which.

  Wrong working

  Iron ore, coking coal and limestone are used in the ratio 1 : 2 : 4.

  Right working

  Iron ore, coking coal and limestone are used in the ratio of about 4 : 2 : 1.

  ✓Do this: Iron ore is the most needed, limestone the least. Use 'Iron Comes Late'.

  Usually costs: 1 mark in an MCQ or a factor point.

• ✗Mistake: One-line location answers

  Students write the place but not the factors, or merge several factors into one sentence.

  Wrong working

  Jute mills are in West Bengal because Kolkata is there and jute grows there.

  Right working

  Jute areas are nearby; water transport is cheap with a rail, road and waterway network; water is abundant for processing; cheap labour comes from West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh; Kolkata provides banking, insurance and port facilities.

  ✓Do this: Write one factor per bullet, one bullet per mark.

  Usually costs: 2 to 3 marks in a 5-mark answer.

• ✗Mistake: Confusing effluent treatment phases

  All three phases sound alike and 'biological' appears twice.

  Wrong working

  Primary treatment is by chemical process and secondary by mechanical means.

  Right working

  Primary is mechanical (screening, grinding, flocculation, sedimentation); secondary is biological; tertiary is biological, chemical and physical, involving recycling.

  ✓Do this: Remember M-B-BCP, and that only tertiary involves recycling.

  Usually costs: 1 to 2 marks in a pollution control answer.

• ✗Mistake: Listing pollution types without causes or measures

  Students write the four types as headings and stop.

  Wrong working

  Industries cause air, water, land and noise pollution.

  Right working

  Air: sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide and smoke from refineries, smelters and brick kilns. Water: dyes, acids and heavy metals like lead and mercury from tanneries, textile and chemical units. Land: dumped chemicals and garbage make soil useless. Noise: generators and machinery cause stress and hearing impairment.

  ✓Do this: For each type, add one cause and one effect or a matching control measure.

  Usually costs: 3 to 4 marks in a 5-mark answer.

• ✗Mistake: Explaining aluminium location with only one factor

  Students remember bauxite but forget electricity.

  Wrong working

  Aluminium plants are located near bauxite mines.

  Right working

  The two prime factors are uninterrupted power and a dependable, low-cost supply of bauxite, the raw material.

  ✓Do this: Always pair electricity with raw material in aluminium answers.

  Usually costs: 1 mark in a 2-mark answer.

NCERT exercise guide: Manufacturing Industries

What each exercise in the NCERT chapter tests, how to approach it, and a question of the same kind solved step by step. Questions here are written in our own words.

Manufacturing Industries: previous year questions

• Asked in 14 of the 21 board papers we hold (2023 to 2026), on average 3 marks per paper; 22 questions in all, counting OR alternatives. In 2 of 4 sample papers.

Counted from the real papers on our previous year papers page, not estimated. Average marks are over every board paper we hold, with an OR pair counted once. Chapter tags are ours.

Solved board questions from Manufacturing Industries

Real questions from recent papers. Try each one first, then open our step-by-step solution with marks per step.

Every Manufacturing Industries question, by year

Practice questions on Manufacturing Industries

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

1. Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

   Which of the following is the most appropriate reason for the healthy growth of passenger cars and two- and three-wheelers in India after liberalisation?
   (a) Location of all vehicle plants close to iron ore mines
   (b) Entry of new and contemporary models, which stimulated demand
   (c) Transfer of all vehicle makers to the cooperative sector
   (d) Shifting of vehicle plants to Gujarat for the Gulf market

   Hint

   The chapter links liberalisation with demand, not with raw materials or ownership.

   Answer

   (b) Entry of new and contemporary models, which stimulated demand. The Gulf market link in (d) belongs to the cement industry, and the other options are not supported by the chapter.

2. Q2 · 2 marks · Very short answerHarder board level

   Imagine a factory makes aluminium sheets and sells them to firms that make utensils and aircraft. Is the factory a basic or a consumer industry? Justify, and classify the utensil maker on the same basis.

   Hint

   Ask who uses each product: another industry, or people directly?

   Answer

   The sheet factory is a basic industry, because it supplies its product as raw material for making other goods, like aluminium smelting (1 mark). The utensil maker is a consumer industry, because utensils go to people for direct use (1 mark).

3. Q3 · 3 marks · Map workBoard level

   On an outline map of India, locate and label: (i) the iron and steel plant in Karnataka, (ii) the software technology park in Gujarat, (iii) a cotton textile centre in Uttar Pradesh. For each, write one line that fixes its position.

   Hint

   All three are on the official map list; think of the state first, then the part of the state.

   Answer

   (i) Vijayanagar: in the interior of east-central Karnataka, north of Bengaluru. (ii) Gandhinagar: in north-central mainland Gujarat, east of the Kathiawar peninsula. (iii) Kanpur: in Uttar Pradesh, on the Ganga, south-west of Lucknow. Each marked with a dot, symbol and name (1 mark each).

4. Q4 · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level

   Assertion (A): Organic chemical plants are located near oil refineries or petrochemical plants.
   Reason (R): Organic chemicals include petrochemicals, which are used to make synthetic fibres, synthetic rubber and plastics.
   (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
   (b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
   (c) A is true but R is false.
   (d) A is false but R is true.

   Hint

   Ask whether R explains why the plants are located there, or only what organic chemicals are used for.

   Answer

   (b) Both are true. R only lists what organic chemicals are and their uses; it does not explain why the plants are sited near refineries.

5. Q5 · 2 marks · Very short answerBoard level

   Why has aluminium gained popularity as a substitute for steel, copper, zinc and lead? Give two properties. (2 marks)

   Hint

   Recall the properties that make it useful for aircraft, utensils and wires.

   Answer

   • It is light, resists corrosion and is a good conductor of heat. (1)
   • It is malleable and becomes strong when mixed with other metals. (1)

6. Q6 · 5 marks · Long answerHarder board level

   Why is iron and steel called both a basic and a heavy industry? Explain its raw materials and the reasons for its concentration on the Chhotanagpur plateau.

   Hint

   Give two separate reasons for the two labels, then the 4 : 2 : 1 ratio, then the plateau's advantages.

   Answer

   Basic: all other industries depend on it for machinery. Heavy: its raw materials and finished goods are heavy and bulky, so transport costs are high. Iron ore, coking coal and limestone are used in about a 4 : 2 : 1 ratio, with some manganese to harden the steel. The Chhotanagpur plateau has low-cost iron ore, high-grade raw materials close by, cheap labour and vast growth potential in the home market.

7. Q7 · 2 marks · Very short answerBoard level

   Explain how industries cause air pollution and the harm it does. (2 marks)

   Hint

   Gases and particles from factories, then the effects.

   Answer

   • Factories such as chemical and paper units, brick kilns, refineries and smelters release gases like sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide and particles such as dust, mist and smoke. (1)
   • Air pollution harms human health, animals, plants, buildings and the atmosphere as a whole. (1)

8. Q8 · 2 marks · Very short answerHarder board level

   Explain why the cement industry is located near its raw materials, and why some plants are placed in Gujarat. (2 marks)

   Hint

   Bulky raw materials, then the Gulf market.

   Answer

   • It needs bulky, heavy raw materials (limestone, silica and gypsum), besides coal, power and rail transport, so plants are best placed near the raw materials. (1)
   • Plants are strategically placed in Gujarat for access to markets in the Gulf countries. (1)

9. Q9 · 2 marks · Very short answerHOTS / competency

   Suppose an industry discharges 50 litres of waste water a day. Using the chapter's figure for how much freshwater each litre of industrial waste water pollutes, work out the freshwater polluted daily, and suggest one way the unit can reduce it. (2 marks)

   Hint

   Each litre of industrial waste water pollutes eight times its quantity of freshwater.

   Answer

   50 × 8 = 400 litres of freshwater polluted each day (1 mark). To reduce it: reuse and recycle process water in successive stages, harvest rainwater for its needs, or treat effluents before release (any one, 1 mark).

10. Q10 · 2 marks · Very short answerHOTS / competency

    Imagine a state government plans to set up industries in its tribal and backward districts. Justify this decision with two points from the chapter. (2 marks)

    Hint

    Link to unemployment, poverty and regional disparity, and to what agro-industries do for farmers.

    Answer

    • Industrial development helps remove unemployment and poverty, and industries in tribal and backward areas reduce regional disparities. (1)
    • Agro-industries buy farm produce and sell pumps, fertilisers, pesticides and tools to farmers, raising farm productivity and incomes. (1)

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1. 1.Which industry is the only one in India complete in the value chain?Show answer

   The textile industry.

2. 2.Where and when was the first jute mill set up?Show answer

   At Rishra, near Kolkata, in 1855.

3. 3.Which fibre is called the 'Golden Fibre'?Show answer

   Jute.

4. 4.Name two cooperative sector industries from NCERT.Show answer

   The sugar industry in Maharashtra and the coir industry in Kerala.

5. 5.What is the raw material for aluminium smelting?Show answer

   Bauxite, a bulky, dark reddish coloured rock.

6. 6.Which fertilizer component is entirely imported, and why?Show answer

   Potash, because India has no commercially usable reserves of potash or potassium compounds.

7. 7.Which city is the electronic capital of India?Show answer

   Bengaluru.

8. 8.Name four devices that reduce particulate matter from factory smoke stacks.Show answer

   Electrostatic precipitators, fabric filters, scrubbers and inertial separators.

Quick revision checklist

The night before the exam: can you do each of these without looking?

• ☐Can you define manufacturing and give four reasons it is the backbone of development?
• ☐Can you classify industries on five bases with an NCERT example for each?
• ☐Can you explain why spinning is centralised but weaving is decentralised, and why fabric quality suffers?
• ☐Can you list five factors for jute mills in the Hugli basin?
• ☐Can you give three reasons why sugar mills are shifting south and west?
• ☐Can you state the iron ore, coking coal and limestone ratio and four advantages of the Chhotanagpur plateau?
• ☐Can you name the two prime location factors for aluminium smelting?
• ☐Can you state where organic chemical plants are located and why potash is imported?
• ☐Can you explain the three phases of effluent treatment and four ways to control air and noise pollution?
• ☐Can you locate Mumbai, Indore, Surat, Kanpur, Coimbatore, Durgapur, Bokaro, Jamshedpur, Bhilai, Vijayanagar, Salem and the eight software technology parks on an outline map?

Manufacturing Industries: frequently asked questions