Theme T39 · Resources & Economic Geography

Location of industries: steel, refineries, sugar, textiles, tea, rubber, corridors

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What UPSC asks

UPSC asks location factors for specific industries: iron and steel away from raw material, refineries, sugar shifting south, decentralised cotton textiles, tea gardens limited to Darjeeling, rubber, industrial corridors, and non-farm primary activities.

Prepare these

• Weber-type factors: raw material, market, transport, labour, power, policy
• Iron and steel: shift to coastal and market locations
• Sugar: southern advantage (yield, crushing season, cooperatives)
• Cotton textiles: decentralised due to market and power
• Industrial corridors: DMIC etc.
• Non-farm primary activities and physiography

Answer writing

• Always give specific locations; a rough map sketch helps

Directive words in these PYQs: Discuss (2), Account for (2), Explain (2), Identify (1), Analyse (1), Do you agree (1).

Linked themes

Builds on: study these first

These come earlier in the roadmap. Questions in this theme use them.

On the map

Syllabus lines covered

• GS1-L11 — Distribution of key natural resources across the world (including South Asia and the Indian sub-continent); factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector industries in various parts of the world (including India)

All 7 PYQs, newest first

1. GS1202510 marks · 150 wordsGS1-GEO-06-M2025-Q05

   What are non-farm primary activities? How are these activities related to physiographic features in India? Discuss with suitable examples.

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2. GS1202215 marks · 250 wordsGS1-GEO-06-M2022-Q15

   Describing the distribution of rubber-producing countries indicate the major environmental issues faced by them.

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3. GS12020GS1-GEO-06-M2020-S01

   Account for the present location of iron and steel industries away from the source of raw material, by giving examples.

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4. GS12018GS1-GEO-06-M2018-S03

   What is the significance of Industrial Corridors in India? Identifying industrial corridors, explain their main characteristics.

   Also needs: T135 Infrastructure & investment models: PPP, Gati Shakti, concession agreementsAlso needs: T129 Manufacturing, MSMEs, startups & industrial policy: PLI, SEZs, labour codesCopyReport a typo
5. GS12014GS1-GEO-06-M2014-S01

   Whereas the British planters had developed tea gardens all along the Shivaliks and Lesser Himalayas from Assam to Himachal Pradesh, in effect they did not succeed beyond the Darjeeling area. Explain.

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6. GS12014GS1-GEO-06-M2014-S03

   Account for the change in the spatial pattern of the Iron and Steel industry in the world.

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7. GS12013GS1-GEO-06-M2013-S01

   (a) Do you agree that there is a growing trend of opening new sugar mills in southern States of India? Discuss with justification. (b) Analyze the factors for the highly decentralized cotton textile industry in India.

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