Industrialization in India

Introduction

Industrialisation is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group to
an industrial society from an agrarian society, involving the extensive manufacturing re-
organisation of an economy. Industrialisation requires many key elements i.e. land,
labour, capital technologies, and connections to grow on a significant scale.

Industrialization in India can be marked under two heads the Pre-British period and the
Evolution of Modern History. Within the country, there has been development of industrial
programs with the main objective of bringing about enhancement and progress towards living
conditions of the individuals and the nation.

The primary aim of programs of industrial development is to provide more products, services
and innovative techniques. While this aim is adequate or rather essential to national welfare,
social stability and existence in the modern world; on the other hand, the process of
industrialization has consequences, derivatives which change the whole meaning of life and
thought.

Pre-British Period
India was famous for her handicrafts right from Pre- British times. During the Mughal
Period, India had a considerable multiplicity of arts and handicrafts. In several handicrafts,
specialization of jobs had advanced to such an extent that particular classes of artisans undertook
distinct processes in the class of production; such as paintings, craft activities and so forth and
the products dominated wide range of foreign markets. At that time no other country produced
products that could be imported to India in exchange for cotton and silk goods which were in
world-wide demand. Europe had to pay in billions for the increasing volume of Indian exports.
India was also famous for jewelry of exquisite quality which were made out of gold and silver
and also those which were made out of copper, brass and bell-metal. Many urban areas were
engaged in those days for carving work in ivory, wood, stone and marble. In larger towns each
handicraft was organized into an association which maintained the specialized interest of its
members.
 The superiority of Indian handicrafts could no longer be maintained because of certain
technological, economic and political developments. One of the important reasons for the decline
of indigenous industries was the industrial revolution of England. The cotton industry was the
first to lose status by this new development. India was reduced to the status of a colonial
dependency. Imperialism set out to destroy the independent economy and a substantial part of
local handicrafts. Prohibitory duties were imposed on Indian goods because, up to the year1813
the silk and cotton goods of India were sold in the British market at a price from fifty to sixty
percent lower than the price of those constructed in England. The representatives of the East
India Company were entrusted with powers which they frequently misused; this high-handedness
of the company representatives caused the decline of Indian goods. By 1880, the rejection of
handicrafts was completed and majority of men engaged in the production of handicrafts had no
other means of livelihood.

Evolution of Modern History

East India Company in 1833 provided a grand opportunity for the English merchants to
develop trade and industry in India. Foreign capital and enterprise ran into plantations and
monopolistic industries such as jute and railways. The foundation for the development of large
scale industries was thus established; the enhancement of oceanic and inland transport system
contributed to this and another major aspect which contributed to this was the political
developments in India and abroad. India registered a substantial progress in various industrial
fields during 1922 and 1939. Considerable progress was recorded in industrial production and
the total number of factories increased from 2936 in 1914 to 11,613 in 1939 and the number of
workers employed in them increased from 9,50,000 lakhs to 17,50,000 lakhs.
Some new industries started manufacturing during the war period. These include
invention of transport equipment, chemicals, metals and mechanical industries like diesel engine
and pumps; there was significant increase in the number of new industries. The number of
companies in 1945 rose to 14,859 with total paid up capital of Rs. 290 crores in 1939. During the
evolution of modern history, the industrial production was time-consuming and inactive; the
industries that portrayed this kind of condition were cotton, textiles, cement, iron, steel, sugar
and paper.
 Impact of Industrialization on the Indian Economy and Environment
Industrialization has caused a negative impact upon the ecological management of the
country; there have been severe problems such as pollution of various kinds, air, water and sound
with discharging of harmful gases such as carbon dioxide. There has been an increase in
population, where people are coming from rural areas in search for jobs, speedy industrialization,
industrial employment, increase in number of vehicles as a result of very high economic growth
have been considered as the major powers that are having higher energy consumption.

With the impact of industrialization, there has been advent of machines and equipment,
which has reduced the status of personnel to merely that of a component in a machine. In the
production of goods and services, machines are made use of and most of the work is done by the
machines, personnel are merely needed just to operate the machine. In rural areas, industries are
closing down with the impact of industrialization in urban areas and villagers are becoming
jobless, some have a low level of education, whereas others do not have any education at all and
in order to sustain their living they are moving to urban areas in search for jobs. Some of the
rural people are able to find work in industries and other sectors of the economy, whereas some
are unable to find work and sustain in poverty. With the advent of industrialization industries
such as production, marketing, telecommunications, media, technology have come into being
and changed the lifestyles of people. Industrialization has been positive in some cases, whereas
negative in others.

Social Effects of Industrialization

Greater Mobility – An industrial community requires greater mobility, both professional
and spatial. With the development of industrialization, men are required to move out of the
territories to other places and find an opportunity to enhance their skills and abilities. In their
attitude as well as occupation, they become more social and interactive. One of the social effects
of industrialization is they move out of their limited areas and become more mobile and
influenced.
Smaller Family Unit - Within rural areas, people tend to live mainly in joint families,
where two or more nuclear families reside under the common roof; but with the impact of
industrialization, joint families tend to break, giving way to nuclear families. Nuclear families
are the families which comprise of husband, wife and their unmarried children. Hence, it can be
stated that another social effect of industrialization regarding family units is giving way to
smaller families. These smaller families come into being when people move out of their homes
in search for better jobs.
Skill Development – Individuals, before industrialization came into being produced all
their products and goods manually; with the impact of industrialization they have become
acquainted with the use of machines, technology and advanced methods and procedures
regarding the production of goods and services. Individuals have become more knowledgeable
and skillful in their job which is also considered to be a social effect of industrialization.
Scientific Control and Change – In industrialization, the workers are constantly viewing
changes in production; new methods, technologies are taking place and they have to be applied
in the production of goods and services. New procedures are introduced and the outcomes differ;
an industrial worker or a technologist has to perform his work duties adequately, bring about
required changes and learn to control, organize and manage his duties.

Problems of Industrialization in India

Growth Rate in the Organized Industry – With the growth of industrialization, new
industries developed; hence there will be either closing of previous industries or there will not be
any room for their existence. In rural areas, still there is a high rate of poverty, the reason for this
being that rural industries are closing down with the development of new industries within the
urban areas, hence people in rural areas are becoming unemployed or they have to leave their
families and move to urban areas in search for jobs.
Competition for Resources – The expansion of government investment program and the
private industrial sector requires mobilization of resources within the economy as a whole. There
has been competition for resources in the entire sectors, private and public; in both these sectors
it is essential to have adequate mobilization of resources; with the impact of development of
industries if the resources remained confined to just one sector then this would cause
impediments in the growth of the economy.
Towards Centralization - In the former industries in today's favorable market situation,
small firms would be cost-effective; these firms could support in meeting the shortage of supply
and possibly reduce imports of higher priced products. As these divisions ploughed slice their
almost guaranteed profits, their size would approach closer to the supposed most favorable. A
provision to require a high rate of plough-back for such industries might be a condition of the
license. The effect of the indiscriminate use of the size requirement in granting licenses is to
limit them to those relatively few businessmen who do have the large amounts of capital to set
up large plants. This still further centralizes private economic power in India, and runs counter to
at least one aim of government policy.
Long term Problems - The main long-term problem of industrialization appears to be the
question of relating the development of the rural sector; within the rural sector agriculture is the
main occupation of the people and it is also considered to be the most important part to the
projected industrial growth, so that the industrial growth becomes less dependent upon the
government demand. In India, 70% of the population resides in rural areas; people are not well
educated and many of them cannot read and write; they work as agricultural laborers to sustain
their living. With the impact of industrialization, they will tend to lose their jobs or become
landless laborers; hence this can be one of the most crucial problems with the impact of
industrialization.

Conclusion
India during the Pre-British times was famous for the production of handicrafts, artworks,
paintings, and agricultural products. Individuals were engaged in jobs as artisans, farmers and so
forth. With the impact of colonial rule, when British came to India, they began to develop trade
in India and initiated the growth of many industries such as transportation, chemicals, metals,
communications and so forth.
With the impact of industrialization, there have been positive as well as negative effects;
the positive conditions centered on the development of skills, making people more
knowledgeable, enhanced and educated. On the other hand, there have been problems associated
with industrialization such as rural workers losing jobs and status in their agricultural areas,
competition for resources, etc.
Finally, it can be stated that with the growth of industries, people have largely advanced in
their standard of living and development of personal traits; industries have lead to advancement
and modernization of the social, economic, political and administrative sectors of the country.