40 practice questions on Industries & Location from the Geography section of the UPSC Prelims syllabus.
40 come with a written explanation and 4 are actual previous year questions.
Try the sample set below - the answer stays hidden until you ask for it.
30 Medium10 Hard4 from past papers
Sample questions
Q1
Previous year questionmedium
Which one among the following industries is the maximum consumer of water in India?
AEngineering
BPaper and pulp
CTextiles
DThermal power
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: D - Thermal power
Thermal power is the maximum consumer of water among Indian industries, so option (d) is correct. Thermal power plants account for roughly 88 percent of total industrial water use, chiefly for cooling, far ahead of the other sectors: engineering (around 5 percent), paper and pulp (around 2.3 percent) and textiles (around 2 percent). Because the sheer cooling-water demand of thermal power stations dwarfs the rest, engineering, paper and pulp, and textiles in options (a), (b) and (c) are all wrong.
Q2
Previous year questionhard
With reference to India's projects on connectivity, consider the following statements:
1. East-West Corridor under Golden Quadrilateral Project connects Dibrugarh and Surat.
2. Trilateral Highway connects Moreh in Manipur and Chiang Mai in Thailand via Myanmar.
3. Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor connects Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh with Kunming in China.
How many of the statements given above are correct?
AOnly one
BOnly two
CAll three
DNone
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: D - None
None of the statements is correct. The East-West Corridor runs between Silchar and Porbandar, not Dibrugarh and Surat. The India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway connects Moreh to Mae Sot in Thailand, not Chiang Mai. The BCIM Economic Corridor was planned to link Kolkata with Kunming, not Varanasi with Kunming. Since each statement misstates the terminal points, the correct answer is None.
Q3
Previous year questionhard
Consider the following pairs:
Port : Well known as
1. Kamarajar Port : First major port in India registered as a company
2. Mundra Port : Largest privately owned port in India
3. Visakhapatnam Port : Largest container port in India
How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?
AOnly one pair
BOnly two pairs
CAll three pairs
DNone of the pairs
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B - Only two pairs
Two pairs are correct, so the answer is Only two pairs. Kamarajar (Ennore) Port is indeed the first Indian major port registered as a public company, and Mundra is India's largest privately owned port operated by Adani. The third pair is wrong because the largest container port in India is the Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT), not Visakhapatnam. With the first two matched and the third mismatched, the All three and None options are ruled out.
Q4
Previous year questionmedium
Consider the following pairs: National Cities connected Highway 1. NH 4: Chennai and Hyderabad 2. NH 6: Mumbai and Kolkata 3. NH 15: Ahmedabad and Jodhpur Which of the above pairs is/ are correctly matched?
A1 and 2 only
B3 only
C1, 2 and 3
DNone
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: D - None
Correct answer: None. NH 4 connected Mumbai with Chennai (via Pune and Bengaluru), not Chennai and Hyderabad. NH 6 connected Hazira (Surat) with Kolkata, not Mumbai and Kolkata. NH 15 ran along the western border (Pathankot to Samakhiali in Kutch), not Ahmedabad and Jodhpur. As none of the three pairs is correctly matched, the answer is None.
Q5
medium
According to Alfred Weber's theory of industrial location, the 'material index' of an industry is defined as the ratio of the:
AWeight of finished product to the weight of localized raw materials used
BWeight of localized raw materials to the weight of the finished product
CTransport cost of raw materials to the transport cost of the finished product
DLabour cost to the total cost of production
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B - Weight of localized raw materials to the weight of the finished product
In Weber's least-cost theory, the material index is the ratio of the weight of localized (non-ubiquitous) raw materials to the weight of the finished product. An index greater than one indicates weight-losing raw materials, pulling industry towards raw-material sources; an index less than one (weight-gaining) pulls industry towards the market. This index, together with the locational triangle and isodapanes, underpins Weber's analysis.
Q6
medium
Consider the following pairs of industrial location factors and the industry they most strongly influence:
1. Bulk-reducing (weight-losing) raw material : Iron and steel
2. Ubiquitous raw material : Bread/aerated water bottling
3. Perishability of raw material : Sugar
Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
A1 and 3 only
B2 and 3 only
C1 and 2 only
D1, 2 and 3
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: D - 1, 2 and 3
Weight-losing (gross) materials such as iron ore and coal pull industries like iron and steel towards raw-material sources (pair 1 correct). Industries using ubiquitous inputs (such as water for bottling/aerated drinks and bakeries) locate near the market (pair 2 correct). Perishable raw material like sugarcane, which loses sucrose rapidly after cutting, ties sugar mills to the cane-growing area (pair 3 correct). All three are correctly matched, reflecting Weber's least-cost location principles.
Q7
medium
Match the following industrial regions/clusters with the dominant industry historically associated with them:
List-I (Region) List-II (Industry)
A. Chhotanagpur Plateau 1. Iron and Steel
B. Mumbai-Pune belt 2. Cotton Textiles
C. Sundarban-Hooghly belt 3. Jute
D. Mathura-Koyali 4. Petroleum Refining
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
AA-1, B-2, C-3, D-4
BA-2, B-1, C-4, D-3
CA-1, B-3, C-2, D-4
DA-4, B-2, C-3, D-1
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A - A-1, B-2, C-3, D-4
The Chhotanagpur Plateau, with coal (Jharia, Bokaro) and iron ore proximity, is India's principal iron and steel belt (Jamshedpur, Bokaro, Durgapur). The Mumbai-Pune belt is the historic core of cotton textile industry. The Hooghly-Sundarban (Kolkata) belt is the centre of jute manufacturing. Mathura and Koyali are major petroleum refining centres. Thus A-1, B-2, C-3, D-4 is the correct matching; the other options misassign at least one pair.
Q8
medium
The location of the iron and steel industry has historically been influenced by Weber's least-cost theory. In the case of an industry using a pure raw material (one whose entire weight enters the finished product), the optimal location tends to be:
AAnywhere along the line between the raw-material source and the market, as transport costs are not biased to either end
BAt the raw-material source, because pure raw materials are weight-losing
CAlways at the market, irrespective of the nature of the raw material
DAt the source of cheapest labour, regardless of transport costs
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A - Anywhere along the line between the raw-material source and the market, as transport costs are not biased to either end
In Weber's theory, a 'pure' raw material contributes its full weight to the product, so the material index is 1 and transport cost is the same whether you ship raw material to market or finished goods from source. The industry is therefore footloose along the line between source and market. Weight-losing (gross) materials pull industry toward the source; weight-gaining or ubiquitous materials pull it toward the market. Pure materials do not, so options 2, 3 and 4 are incorrect.
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