difference between geo and non-geo factors influencing the location of an industry
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Many important geographical factors involved in the location of individual industries are of relative significance, e.g., availability of raw materials, power resources, water, labour, markets and the transport facilities.
But besides such purely geographical factors influencing industrial location, there are factors of historical, human, political and economic nature which are now tending to surpass the force of geographical advantages. Consequently, the factors influencing the location of industry can be divided into two broad categories i.e.
(I) Geographical factors, and
(II) Non-geographical factors.
Geographical Factors:
Following are the important geographical factors influencing the location of industries.
1. Raw Materials:
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The significance of raw materials in manufacturing industry is so fundamental that it needs no emphasising. Indeed, the location of industrial enterprises is sometimes determined simply by location of the raw materials. Modem industry is so complex that a wide range of raw materials is necessary for its growth.
Further we should bear in mind that finished product of one industry may well be the raw material of another. For example, pig iron, produced by smelting industry, serves as the raw material for steel making industry. Industries which use heavy and bulky raw materials in their primary stage in large quantities are usually located near the supply of the raw materials.
It is true in the case of raw materials which lose weight in the process of manufacture or which cannot bear high transport cost or cannot be transported over long distances because of their perishable nature. This has been recognised since 1909 when Alfred Weber published his theory of location of industry.
The jute mills in West Bengal, sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh, cotton textile mills in Maharashtra and Gujarat are concentrated close to the sources of raw materials for this very reason. Industries like iron and steel, which use very large quantities of coal and iron ore, losing lot of weight in the process of manufacture, are generally located near the sources of coal and iron ore.
Some of the industries, like watch and electronics industries use very wide range of light raw materials and the attractive influence of each separate material diminishes. The result is that such industries are often located with no reference to raw materials and are sometimes referred to as ‘footloose industries’ because a wide range of locations is possible within an area of sufficient population density.
2. Power:
Regular supply of power is a pre-requisite for the localisation of industries. Coal, mineral oil and hydro-electricity are the three important conventional sources of power. Most of the industries tend to concentrate at the source of power.
The iron and steel industry which mainly depends on large quantities of coking coal as source of power are frequently tied to coal fields. Others like the electro-metallurgical and electro-chemical industries, which are great users of cheap hydro-electric power, are generally found in the areas of hydro-power production, for instance, aluminium industry.
Labour:
No one can deny that the prior existence of a labour force is attractive to industry unless there are strong reasons to the contrary. Labour supply is important in two respects (a) workers in large numbers are often required; (b) people with skill or technical expertise are needed. Estall and Buchanan showed in 1961 that labour costs can vary between 62 per cent in clothing and related industries to 29 per cent in the chemical industry; in the fabricated metal products industries they work out at 43 per cent.
non-geographical factors are those including economic, political, historical and social factors. These factors influence our modern industries to a great extent. Following are some of the important non- geographical factors influencing the location of industries.
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