RAS question
The Mumbai-Pune industrial region is known as the 'Manchester of India' because of its dominance in:
Correct answer: (B) Cotton textile industry.
The Mumbai-Pune industrial region is associated with the title "Manchester of India" because of the historical dominance of the cotton textile industry, especially in Mumbai.
Explanation
The label points to cotton textiles, not to the region's present-day industrial mix. The Maharashtra State Gazetteer describes Bombay as a leading centre of the cotton textile industry and says cotton textiles were the prime industry behind its economic prosperity. The usual location factors were raw cotton from the Deccan, port access, a humid climate, and capital from Parsi and Gujarati businessmen. Mumbai's first cotton mill began work in 1854, giving the city a long mill-industry identity. The wider Mumbai-Pune belt later diversified into petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, IT, and entertainment, but that later diversification does not explain the Manchester comparison.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Steel production is identified with centres such as Jamshedpur and Bhilai, while Mumbai's historical industrial identity rests on cotton textiles.
- (C) Information Technology is more closely associated with Bangalore in this comparison and does not explain the Manchester label.
- (D) Automobile manufacturing is present in the Mumbai-Pune belt, but the historical Manchester identity comes from cotton textiles.
Concept
The geography of industrial regions connects industrial nicknames with location factors, raw material access, transport, capital, and industrial specialisation. RAS often uses these links to test the historical basis of industrial identities.