Secondary Activities — NCERT Solutions

Footloose industries can be located in a wide variety of places. They are not dependent on any specific raw material, produce in small quantity, employ a small labour force, are generally non-polluting, and their main locational need is accessibility by road network.

Primary activities involve the direct extraction of resources from nature, such as agriculture, fishing, forestry, mining, and quarrying. Secondary activities use those natural resources and transform them into finished or more valuable products through manufacturing, processing, and construction. In short, primary activities obtain raw materials, while secondary activities add value to them.

Modern industrial activities in developed countries show several major trends. Manufacturing is marked by specialisation, mechanisation, automation, and technological innovation. Production is organised on a large scale with high capital investment, advanced technology, division of labour, and executive bureaucracy. Industries are often concentrated in a few major regions, especially where there is good access to markets, raw materials, labour, energy, and transportation. At the same time, high-tech industries and technopolies have become important, using research, robotics, CAD, and skilled workers. The overall trend is toward greater efficiency, lower costs, and more advanced production systems.

High-tech industries are attracted to the peripheral areas of major metropolitan centres because these places offer space for modern dispersed office-plant-lab buildings and planned business parks. Such locations usually have good transport and communication links, skilled labour, and a suitable environment for research and development. They also avoid the congestion, high land costs, and crowding of central city areas while still remaining close to the metropolitan market and services.

Africa has abundant natural resources, but it remains industrially backward because industrial development depends on more than resources alone. The chapter highlights factors such as market access, raw materials, labour supply, energy, transport and communication, government policy, and agglomeration economies. In many African regions these supporting conditions are weak. Markets are often small, transport networks and communication facilities are less developed, capital and technology are limited, and industries do not get the benefits of strong industrial linkages. As a result, despite rich resources, industrial growth remains low.

Biodegradable materials can be broken down naturally by microorganisms, while non-biodegradable materials do not decompose easily and remain in the environment for a long time. Biodegradable materials are better to use because they do not accumulate as waste and are less harmful to the environment.