ABSTRACT
Agriculture and industry are symbiotic; the rural population provides both a market and labour supply, though limitless cheap labour does nothing to raise wages, efficiency or conditions. Conversely, industrial products are needed for the dams and power houses, fertilizers and machinery necessary for rural improvements. Equally important are the resources of power and minerals available. On the physical side, problems of the industry stem from the shortage of coking reserves, and have led to attempts to conserve supplies–as well as to reduce subsidence. The concentration of Indian coal in the northeast corner of the peninsula has always been a handicap, and bottlenecks and storage, more than actual pithead output, appear as problems in attaining planned targets. Juxtaposition of down-faulted sedimentaries including coal, with the rich concentration of iron and alloy minerals in the Archaean metamorphics, gives the peninsula its dominant position, especially the plateau fringes of Chota Nagpur.
