[Solved] Which of the following statements correctly explains the impact of Industrial Revolution on India during the first half of the nineteenth century?

Q43. Which of the following statements correctly explains the impact of Industrial Revolution on India during the first half of the nineteenth century?

a. Indian handicrafts were ruined

b. Machines were introduced in the Indian textile industry in large numbers.

c. Railway Lines were laid in many parts of the country.

d. Heavy duties were imposed on the imports of British manufactures.

Answer: A

• India was a major player in the world export market for textiles in the early 18th century, but by the middle of the 19^th century it had lost all of its export market and much of its domestic market.
• At the beginning of Industrial revolution cotton industries developed in England, industrial groups began worrying about imports from other countries. They pressurised the government to impose import duties on cotton textiles so that Manchester goods could sell in Britain without facing any competition from outside. At the same time industrialists persuaded the East India Company to sell British manufactures in Indian markets as well. Exports of British cotton goods increased dramatically in the early nineteenth century. Cotton weavers in India thus faced two problems at the same time: their export market collapsed, and the local market shrank, being glutted with
• Manchester imports. Produced by machines at lower costs, the imported cotton goods were so cheap that weavers could not easily compete with them. By the 1850s, reports from most weaving regions of India narrated stories of decline and desolation. Hence option (a) is correct answer.