Small scale and large scale industries differ in several aspects, including production capacity, capital investment, and their role in the economy.
Small Scale Industries:
- These industries operate on a smaller scale, typically producing goods in limited quantities.
- They usually require a smaller amount of capital investment.
- Labor-intensive, often employing a small number of workers.
- The products are typically for local or regional markets.
- Example: Handicrafts, small-scale food processing, and local textile mills.
Large Scale Industries:
- These industries operate on a much larger scale, with higher production capacity and larger facilities.
- They require substantial capital investment, often supported by large financial institutions.
- They are capital-intensive and use advanced machinery and technology.
- The products are usually produced in bulk and cater to national and international markets.
- Example: Automobile manufacturing (e.g., Tata Motors), steel plants, and petrochemical industries. The key differences lie in the scale of production, capital requirements, workforce size, and market reach.
Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
Hunting and Food Gathering
The earliest human beings depended on their immediate environment for their sustenance. They subsisted on: (a) animals which they hunted; and (b) the edible plants which they gathered from forests in the vicinity. Primitive societies depended on wild animals. People located in very cold and extremely hot climates survived on hunting. The people in the coastal areas still catch fish though fishing has experienced modernisation due to technological development. Many species, now have become extinct or endangered due to illegal hunting (poaching). The early hunters used primitive tools made of stones, twigs or arrows so the number of animals killed was limited. Gathering and hunting are the oldest economic activity known. These are carried out at different levels with different orientations. Gathering is practised in regions with harsh climatic conditions. It often involves primitive societies, who extract both plants and animals to satisfy their needs for food, shelter and clothing. This type of activity requires a small amount of capital investment and operates at very low levels of technology. The yield per person is very low and little or no surplus is produced.
