Classification of Industries

Based on the source of raw material:

  • Agro-based: cotton, woollen, jute, silk textile, rubber and sugar, tea, coffee, and edible oil.
  • Mineral-based: iron and steel, cement, aluminium, machine tools, petrochemicals.

Based on their main role:

  • Basic or key industries are those which supply raw materials to manufacture other goods e.g. iron and steel and copper smelting, aluminium smelting.
  • Consumer industries are those which produce goods directly for consumers – sugar, toothpaste, paper, sewing machines, fans etc.

Based on capital investment:

  • A small-scale industry is classified based on the maximum investment allowed on the assets of a unit .
  • This limit has changed over the period. 
  • At present, the maximum investment allowed is rupees one crore.
  • large-scale industries are those that require big infrastructure , huge manpower , raw material and large capital investment .
  • Industries with assets of more than 10 crores are considered large-scale industries.

Based on ownership:

  • The public sector is owned and operated by government agencies
  • For Example,
    • BHEL, SAIL etc.
  • Private sector industries are owned and operated by individuals or a group of individuals
  • For Example, 
    • TISCO, Bajaj Auto Ltd., and Dabur Industries.
  • Joint sector industries are jointly run by the state and individuals or a group of individuals.  
  • For Example,
    • Oil India Ltd. (OIL)
  • Cooperative sector industries are owned and operated by the producers or suppliers of raw materials, workers or both. They pool resources and share the profits or losses proportionately. 
  • For example,
    • Sugar industry in Maharashtra
    • Coir industry in Kerala.

Based on the bulk and weight of raw material and finished goods:

  • Heavy industries such as iron and steel
  • Light industries use light raw materials and produce light goods such as electrical goods industries .
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Davneet Singh

Davneet Singh has done his B.Tech from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He has been teaching from the past 14 years. He provides courses for Maths, Science and Computer Science at Teachoo