Primary products
Also called: Primary commodities · Topic: Indian Economy on the Eve of Independence · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 1 "Indian Economy on the Eve of Independence"
Meaning
Primary products are goods taken straight from farms, forests or mines that have not been processed, or only very little. They are also called primary commodities. Under colonial rule, India was reduced to exporting such goods. Factories in Britain then turned them into finished goods and earned the value added in making them.
Example
Colonial India's exports were mainly primary products: raw silk, cotton, wool, sugar, indigo and jute. For example, jute grown in Bengal was exported as raw fibre.
Don't confuse with
- Manufactured goods: these are finished products made from raw materials in factories, such as cloth made from raw cotton. They sell for more than the primary products they are made from.