Correct Answer - Option 1 : India became main supplier of the raw materials to British industries
Industrialization is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group into an industrial society from an agrarian society, involving the extensive manufacturing reorganization of an economy.
India had an independent economy before the advent of British rule.
- Though agriculture was the main source of livelihood for most people, yet, the country’s economy was characterized by various kinds of manufacturing activities.
-
India was particularly well known for its handicraft industries in the fields of cotton and silk textiles, metal and precious stone works, etc.
- The economic policies pursued by the colonial government in India were concerned more with the protection and promotion of the economic interests of their home country than with the development of the Indian economy.
- The primary motive of Britishers behind de-industrialization was two-fold.
- To make India a net exporter of raw materials to the British industries at a cheap rate.
- To sell British products at a higher rate in the Indian market.
- The Britishers followed a discriminatory tariff policy.
- Discriminatory tariff policy signifies free export of raw materials from India, import of finished products from Britain, and heavy-duty on the export of Indian handicrafts.
Hence, the correct answer is India became the main supplier of raw materials to British industries.
