🃏 Resources and economy (Geography)

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Why water is scarce? — Water is renewable through the hydrological cycle, yet scarcity comes mostly from over-exploitation, excessive use and unequal access — and from pollution. Irrigated agriculture is the largest consumer of water; industries and growing cities add to the pressure.

Multi-purpose projects? — Dams now serve irrigation, electricity, water supply, flood control, recreation, navigation and fish breeding. The Bhakra–Nangal project (Satluj–Beas basin) gives hydel power and irrigation; Hirakud (Mahanadi) combines water conservation with flood control. Nehru called dams the ‘temples of modern India’.

Sardar Sarovar? — Built on the Narmada in Gujarat, one of India’s largest water projects, covering Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan. It is to irrigate 18.45 lakh hectares in 15 districts of Gujarat, 2,46,000 hectares in Barmer and Jalore (Rajasthan) and 37,500 hectares in Maharashtra.

The case against big dams? — Dams disturb a river’s flow and sediment, fragment it for fish, submerge land, and have sometimes caused floods through sedimentation; irrigation has pushed farmers to water-hungry crops and salinised soil.

Rainwater harvesting? — Old wisdom: guls or kuls in the western Himalayas, rooftop harvesting in Rajasthan, inundation channels in Bengal, khadins in Jaisalmer and johads elsewhere in Rajasthan, and underground tankas in Bikaner, Phalodi and Barmer. Tamil Nadu is the first state to make rooftop harvesting compulsory for all houses; Meghalaya has a 200-year-old bamboo drip irrigation system.

Water missions? — The Jal Jeevan Mission aims at piped drinking water for every rural household (55 litres per person per day); Atal Bhujal Yojana works on groundwater in water-stressed gram panchayats of seven states; the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana aims at ‘har khet ko pani’ and ‘per drop more crop’.

The Rabi season? — Sown October–December, harvested April–June: wheat, barley, peas, gram, mustard. Winter rain from western temperate cyclones and the Green Revolution help.

The Kharif season? — Sown with the monsoon, harvested September–October: paddy, maize, jowar, bajra, tur, moong, urad, cotton, jute, groundnut, soyabean. Assam, West Bengal and Odisha grow three paddy crops a year — aus, aman and boro.

The Zaid season? — A short summer season between rabi and kharif: watermelon, muskmelon, cucumber, vegetables, fodder.

Primitive subsistence (slash and burn) farming? — Small patches, simple tools and family labour; land is cleared, farmed until fertility falls, then left. Called jhumming in the north-east, Pamlou in Manipur, Dipa in Bastar, Bewar or Dahiya in Madhya Pradesh, Podu or Penda in Andhra Pradesh, Kumari in the Western Ghats, Khil in the Himalayan belt and Kuruwa in Jharkhand.

Intensive subsistence farming? — Labour-intensive farming with heavy use of biochemical inputs and irrigation where population pressure on land is high.

Commercial and plantation farming? — High-yielding seeds, fertilisers and pesticides for the market — rice is commercial in Punjab and Haryana but subsistence in Odisha. Plantations grow one crop on large estates: tea in Assam and North Bengal, coffee in Karnataka.

Rice — conditions and key facts? — Staple for most Indians; India is the second-largest producer after China. Kharif crop: above 25 °C, high humidity, over 100 cm rain (or irrigation).

Wheat — conditions and key facts? — The second most important cereal; a rabi crop needing a cool growing season, bright sunshine at ripening and 50–75 cm of rain. Two zones: the Ganga–Satluj plains and the black-soil Deccan.

Jowar — conditions and key facts? — The third most important food crop by area and production; rain-fed.

Bajra — conditions and key facts? — Grows well on sandy soils and shallow black soil.

Ragi — conditions and key facts? — A crop of dry regions, very rich in iron, calcium and other micronutrients.

Maize — conditions and key facts? — Food and fodder; a kharif crop needing 21–27 °C and old alluvial soil (a rabi crop too in Bihar).

Pulses — conditions and key facts? — India is the largest producer and consumer of pulses; leguminous crops (except arhar) fix nitrogen and restore soil fertility.

Sugarcane — conditions and key facts? — India is the second-largest producer after Brazil; needs 21–27 °C and 75–100 cm of rain.

Groundnut — conditions and key facts? — A kharif crop, about half of India’s major oilseeds; India was the second-largest producer in 2020. Largest producers in 2019–20: Gujarat, then Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

Tea — conditions and key facts? — A plantation crop introduced by the British; needs warm, moist, frost-free weather and frequent showers. India was the second-largest producer after China in 2020.

Coffee — conditions and key facts? — Arabica, first brought from Yemen and grown on the Baba Budan Hills; today confined to the Nilgiri hills of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Rubber — conditions and key facts? — An equatorial crop needing over 200 cm of rain and above 25 °C.

Cotton — conditions and key facts? — India is believed to be the original home of the cotton plant and is the second-largest producer after China. A kharif crop of the black-soil Deccan needing 210 frost-free days.

Jute — conditions and key facts? — The ‘golden fibre’, grown on flood plains where soils are renewed each year; used for gunny bags, mats, ropes and carpets.

Iron ore — where and key facts? — The backbone of industrial development. Magnetite (up to 70% iron) is the finest ore; hematite (50–60%) is the most used. In 2018–19, 97% of India’s iron ore came from Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Jharkhand. Belts: Odisha–Jharkhand (Badampahar, Gua, Noamundi), Durg–Bastar–Chandrapur (Bailadila), Ballari–Chitradurga–Chikkamagaluru–Tumakuru (Kudremukh, a 100% export unit) and Maharashtra–Goa.

Manganese — where and key facts? — Used to make steel (about 10 kg per tonne of steel) and ferro-manganese alloy, bleaching powder, insecticides and paints. Shares in 2018–19 include Madhya Pradesh 33%, Maharashtra 27% and Odisha 16%.

Bauxite — where and key facts? — The ore of aluminium, formed by decomposition of rocks rich in aluminium silicates; deposits in the Amarkantak plateau, Maikal hills and Bilaspur–Katni plateau. Odisha was the largest producer in 2018–19 (Panchpatmali deposits in Koraput).

Copper — where and key facts? — India is critically deficient in copper. Leading producers: the Balaghat mines (Madhya Pradesh), Khetri mines (Rajasthan) and Singhbhum district (Jharkhand).

Mica — where and key facts? — Splits into thin sheets; indispensable in electric and electronic industries. The Koderma–Gaya–Hazaribagh belt of Jharkhand leads; also around Ajmer (Rajasthan) and the Nellore belt (Andhra Pradesh).

Coal — where and key facts? — India’s most abundant fossil fuel. Gondwana coal (a little over 200 million years old, metallurgical) is in the Damodar valley (West Bengal–Jharkhand) — Jharia, Raniganj, Bokaro — and the Godavari, Mahanadi, Son and Wardha valleys. Tertiary coal (about 55 million years) is in Meghalaya, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. Lignite: Neyveli, Tamil Nadu.

Petroleum and gas — where and key facts? — The next major energy source after coal. Mumbai High, Gujarat (Ankleshwar) and Assam are the major production areas; Assam is the oldest oil-producing state (Digboi, Naharkatiya, Moran–Hugrijan). Gas: Mumbai High, the Cambay basin and the Krishna–Godavari basin; the 1,700 km Hazira–Vijaipur–Jagdishpur pipeline grew into 18,500 km of cross-country pipelines.

Nuclear minerals — where and key facts? — Uranium and thorium from Jharkhand and the Aravalli ranges of Rajasthan; the monazite sands of Kerala are rich in thorium.

Wind power — where and key facts? — The largest wind-farm cluster runs from Nagarcoil to Madurai in Tamil Nadu; Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Kerala, Maharashtra and Lakshadweep also have important wind farms. Tidal power suits the Gulfs of Khambhat and Kuchchh and the Sundarbans; geothermal projects are at Manikaran (Parvati valley, Himachal Pradesh) and the Puga valley (Ladakh).

Cotton textiles industry — key facts? — The only industry complete in the value chain from raw material to finished goods. The first successful mill opened in Mumbai in 1854. Spinning is centred in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu; weaving is decentralised.

Jute textiles industry — key facts? — India is the largest producer of raw jute and jute goods, second as an exporter after Bangladesh. Most mills are along the Hugli in West Bengal; the first was set up at Rishra near Kolkata in 1855.

Sugar industry — key facts? — India is second in sugar and first in gur and khandsari. Sixty per cent of the mills are in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar; mills are shifting south and west, especially to Maharashtra, for cane with more sucrose.

Iron and steel industry — key facts? — The basic heavy industry: iron ore, coking coal and limestone in roughly 4 : 2 : 1. The Chhotanagpur plateau has the most iron and steel industries, thanks to cheap, high-grade raw materials close together. Jamshedpur is also an automobile centre.

Aluminium smelting industry — key facts? — The second most important metallurgical industry; needs cheap electricity and bauxite. Smelters are in Odisha, West Bengal, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

Fertilisers industry — key facts? — Nitrogenous (mainly urea), phosphatic and complex fertilisers; potash is entirely imported. Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Kerala make about half.

Automobiles industry — key facts? — Grew fast after liberalisation; centres around Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore, Hyderabad, Jamshedpur and Bengaluru.

IT and electronics industry — key facts? — Bengaluru has emerged as the electronic capital of India; the main concentrations are Bengaluru, Noida, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune, with other centres at Delhi, Kolkata, Lucknow and Coimbatore.

Port: Deendayal Port (Kandla)? — In Kuchchh; the first port developed after Independence, after Karachi went to Pakistan. A tidal port serving the granary and industrial belt from Jammu and Kashmir to Gujarat.

Port: Mumbai? — The biggest port, with a spacious, well-sheltered natural harbour.

Port: Jawaharlal Nehru Port? — Planned to decongest Mumbai port and serve as a hub port for the region.

Port: Mormugao (Goa)? — The premier iron-ore exporting port — about half of India’s iron-ore exports.

Port: New Mangalore? — In Karnataka; exports iron-ore concentrates from the Kudremukh mines.

Port: Cochin? — The extreme south-western port, at the entrance of a lagoon with a natural harbour.

Port: V.O. Chidambaranar (Tuticorin)? — The extreme south-eastern port in Tamil Nadu, with a natural harbour and rich hinterland.

Port: Chennai? — One of the oldest artificial ports, next to Mumbai in volume of trade.

Port: Visakhapatnam? — The deepest landlocked and well-protected port, first planned for iron-ore exports.

Port: Paradip (Odisha)? — Specialises in exporting iron ore.

Port: Shyama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata? — An inland riverine, tidal port serving the Ganga–Brahmaputra basin; needs constant dredging of the Hugli.

Port: Haldia? — Developed as a subsidiary port to relieve Kolkata.

Golden Quadrilateral — which places? — Six-lane super highways linking Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai.

North–South corridor — which places? — Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) to Kanniyakumari (Tamil Nadu).

East–West corridor — which places? — Silchar (Assam) to Porbandar (Gujarat).

Roads — key facts? — India has the second-largest road network in the world, about 62.16 lakh km (2020–21). Classes: Golden Quadrilateral super highways (built by NHAI), national highways, state highways, district roads, other (rural) roads under the PM Gram Sadak Yojana, and border roads (Border Roads Organisation, 1960). The BRO’s Atal Tunnel (9.02 km) links Manali to Lahul–Spiti all year.

Railways — key facts? — The principal mode for freight and passengers, reorganised into 17 zones, running 67,956 km of track (mostly broad gauge, 1.676 m). The first train ran from Mumbai to Thane in 1853 (34 km). The Konkan railway links the west coast.

Pipelines — key facts? — Carry crude oil, products and gas; they made inland refineries such as Barauni, Mathura and Panipat possible. Three networks: upper Assam to Kanpur, Salaya (Gujarat) to Jalandhar, and the HVJ gas pipeline.

Waterways — key facts? — The cheapest mode for heavy, bulky goods. India has 14,500 km of inland waterways; the National Waterways Act, 2016 declared 111 national waterways. NW-1: the Ganga, Prayagraj–Haldia (1,620 km); NW-2: the Brahmaputra, Sadiya–Dhubri (891 km); NW-3: the West Coast Canal in Kerala (205 km).

Sea trade and air — key facts? — About 95% of India’s trade by volume (68% by value) moves by sea; the major ports handle 95% of foreign trade. Air travel is fastest; Pawan Hans runs helicopters for ONGC and remote areas, and UDAN makes regional flights affordable.

Communication and trade — key facts? — India’s postal network is the largest in the world, and India produces the most feature films. A favourable balance of trade means exports exceed imports. Exports include gems and jewellery, chemicals and agricultural products; imports include petroleum, gems, chemicals, metals, electronics and machinery.