Evening star., 1943-02-14
Industrial Development
in India
BIZ Frederic J. Hdsttn.

The old complacent tradition that
India Is and must remain an agricul-
tural country, producing and exporting
raw materials in exchange for manufac-
tured goods no longer survives. Based
upon past achievements and prospects
for the future, there is now a full real-
zation of the country's potential indus
trial development, in which there Is
growing national pride and a determina-
ton that no encouragement toward its
fulfllment should be denied.
The opening Of the Suez Canal In
1869 and the coming OF steamships and
railways brought about great changes in
the economic structure OF India For
merly the economic unit was the village,
which supplied all the needs of its COM
munity and provided money to meet tax
alton. The effect Of more extensive trad
ing and improved transport facilities In
duced the specialization of certain crops
in localities best adapted for their
growth. The surpluses produced were
exported, and the village no longer culti-
| waited in small patches to cover its own
immediate local needs. The resulting i'm
ports made inroads upon the occupation
of the village craftsman, and so the dis
| solution of the rural unit commenced.
| 1t was in fact, a process which had al
| ready been experienced in the West, and
| the tide had set toward larger economic
radii and consequently organized large
| scale industries. The First World War
| gave impetus to the development Of in
digenous industries and the postwar
| boom witnessed the investment of large
capital sums in works and factories for
| the production of materials hitherto i'm
ported.
| For centuries the hand spinning and
| weaving of India had set a standard
which the craftsmen OF no other country
could approach, but it was not until 1850
that the cotton mill industry was started.
| the first of these large-scale industries
based on Western model. This modern
industry expanded, and by 1885 there
were in India 81 mills having 2,l45,000
| spindles, $500 looms and employing
| $1,000 workers. Today India has more
than 800 mills, 100000 spindles, 175,o00
looms and 100000 workers. And, Curl
ously enough, India is still importing
1000, 900, 900 yards of cloth annually.
There may be room for reflection by
American spinners on the rapid ex-
pansion of Indian spinning and still
| large imports of cloth. The Indian
mills until 1880 concentrated almost
wholly on the coarser weayes and
weaves that could best be finished with
the lower grades of dyes, for India's
dyeing and finishing arts have not de-
veloped in proportion to spinning This
has made it necessary to import the
finer grades of cloth. Now, however,
there is general movement toward
finer counts, and rapid strides are being
made to improve the processes of dyeing
and finishing. Thus, in time, Indian
cotton mills, with an unlimited reser-
voir of cheap labor, may be in keen
competition with such mills in the
United States.
The jute industry is virtually mo-
nopoly of India. The whole world must
look to India for its jute packing ma
terials. Jute was first spun and woven
by power machines in Dundee, Scot
land, but in 1885 some 5000 power looms
| WC1c di WOAh All oCLlSdit 1AANid. 1lCAC
are now more than 100 mills, having
looms in excess of 81, 900. and employing
100000 workers. The total value of the
trade in normal years is approximately
100000 English pounds sterling.
An industry that has been established
with great success during the last rs
years is the manufacture of Portland
| IT., ~ f,,,r ;,, ,,rin,
parts of India produce some $4,000
tons annually, while imports have de-
creased to about $1,000 tons year.
Of spectacular development is the
iron and steel industry. One place, for
example, which was only a jungle 35
years ago, now is a thriving industrial
center with population of more than
100000, all depending upon the produc-
ton of coke, pig-iron, ingot and salable
STEEL The total annual output of the
various grades of iron and steel work
ings amounts to more than 100000
tons.
AS a direct result of the development
Of the iron and steel industry. there
have sprung up in various parts of the
| COulAtly IuIlICAouo CilSAilCCAAiis SAiOPos
These plants are turning Indias stesl
into railway and bridge equipment and
other engineering structures, and all
have a standard of workmanship unsur-
passed anywhere. Home needs are met
first, but India has become a great ex-
porter of iron and steel products, now
supplying English mills with vast guam
titles of finished parts for the war
machine.
Equally striking is the rapid growth
of the sugar refining industry. Ten
years ago India produced less than 10
per cent of its total annual consump-
tion of 100000 tons. Local production
of sugar is now, however, almost ade-
quate for domestic needs. The tea in
dustry, too, is making remarkable
strides after being laggard for several
years.
Coal-mining forms one of India.s
major industries. 1t owes its beginning
on commercial scale to the coming o.
railways. The deposits of coal in Bengal,
Central India, and the central prov
| 1nceS are enormous. The depression
years pressed hard on this enterprise,
but since 1888 there has been a gradual
increase, and now, due to the world
emergency with which India is most
deeply concerned, coal-mining is at full
capacity.