Mains Practice Questions

Approach

• Briefly explain what is a high tech industry.
• Enumerate reasons why high tech industries are growing in peripheral areas of major cities.
• Conclude by mentioning a few examples of such areas.

Answer

High technology, or simply high-tech, is the latest generation of manufacturing activities. It is best understood as the application of intensive research and development (R and D) efforts leading to the manufacture of products of an advanced scientific and engineering character. Robotics on the assembly line, computer-aided design (CAD) and manufacturing, electronic controls of smelting and refining processes, and the constant development of new chemical and pharmaceutical products are notable examples of the high-tech industry. These industries are also known as footloose industries.

Reasons such industries mushroom up near major cities are

• Land outside the cities is often cheaper than in the center, thus the expense of setting up a plant becomes significantly cheap.
• The out of town surroundings and easy access to workers in the suburbs provides an ideal location for building science and business parks.
• Motorway links and railways also provide access for commuters and ease transporting components and products
• The industry is also situated in the periphery because of the low rent, and also because of the closeness to the urban centers which provide them with the availability of workers.
• Their situation near urban places helps them to gain access to the urban market, and also to tap into the skilled workforce that is available there due to the availability of educational institutes.
• The high-tech industrial landscape is marked by neatly spaced, low, modern, dispersed, office-plant-lab buildings that require large areas for massive set up which, due to the increased population in major metropolitan cities, is not available. Hence, these industries are set up near urban centers where adequate space is available.
• These are less dependent on specific raw material, especially weight losing ones. Most of the raw materials are small and light and can be transported easily.
• Like the inputs, the output is lightweight and can be easily transported to the markets. Most of the high tech industries produce low volume and high-value outputs.

High-tech industries that are regionally concentrated, self-sustained, and highly specialized are called technopolis. The Silicon Valley near San Francisco and Silicon Forest near Seattle are examples of technopolis. In the case of India, Gurugram in Haryana has grown into one of the high tech hubs near Delhi.