Industrial location is the study and analysis of the various factors that determine the existence, selection, and suitability of a site for an industry.
The location decision involves elements such as capital investment, labor availability, labor costs, labor skills, transportation facilities, market requirements and other non-geographical factors.
The geographical location influences such as soil quality and its suitability for the type of industry proposed; climate; waste disposal; air and water pollution; natural resources available; competition from competitors which may be already established in the area; availability of surrounding buffer areas and economic growth potential should also be taken into consideration for locating an industry at a particular location.
Industrial locations are influenced by the availability of:
- Raw material
- Labour
- Capital
- Power
- Market
- Government policies
Sometimes, industries are located in or near cities. Cities provide markets and also provide services like banking, insurance, transport, labour, consultants, etc.
Many industries tend to come together to make use of the advantages of an urban centre. Such centre is then called as agglomeration economy.
In the pre-independence period, most of the manufacturing units were located in places which were near the ports, e.g. Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, etc.
As a result, these belts developed as industrial urban centres surrounded by huge agricultural rural hinterland.
