The government tried to meet, through its licensing policy, one important goal. Identify this goal.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → To ensure that industries were spread over different regions
Option (3) To ensure that industries were spread over different regions — Correct. In India’s mixed economy, some sectors were reserved for the government and others opened to the private sector, and within that the government tried, through its licensing policy, to spread industries over different regions. Before independence industries stood mainly in the port cities of Madras, Bombay and Calcutta; since then places like Baroda, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Pune, Faridabad and Rajkot have become important industrial centres.
Note: The section ‘Industrialisation in the Early Years of Indian Independence’ of the chapter ‘Change and Development in Industrial Society’, which spoke of the licensing policy, was there in the pre-rationalised NCERT, which NTA followed in 2023. This portion has been deleted from the NCERT book (2025-26), though the chapter is still there.
NCERT (Pre-rationalised): “INDUSTRIALISATION IN THE EARLY YEARS OF INDIAN INDEPENDENCE …The first modern industries in India were cotton, jute, coal mines and railways. At independence, the government took over the ‘commanding heights of the economy.’ This involved defence, transport and communication, power, mining and other projects which only government had the power to do, and which was necessary for private industry also to flourish. In India’s mixed economy policy, some sectors were reserved for government, while others were open to the private sector. But within that, the government tried to ensure, through its licensing policy, that industries were spread over different regions. Before independence, industries were located mainly in the port cities like Madras, Bombay, Calcutta. But since then, we see that places like Baroda, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Pune, Faridabad and Rajkot have become important industrial centres.…” |