Why is the iron and steel industry called the basic industry? Explain any three reasons.

Hint: The Indian Iron and Steel Company (IISCO) was once the flagship of Martin Burn House, acquired iron ore from the state of Jharkhand which helped the steel plant in establishing a prestigious reputation in the foreign market as well as in the domestic markets.

Complete answer: The Indian Iron and Steel company was set up in 1919 and it is one of the oldest steel plants of India. This steel plant is situated on the banks of river Damodar. IISCO was set up 200 km away from Kolkata in Burnpur, West Bengal. It is a subsidiary of the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), was amalgamated on 16th February 2006 with SAIL and was renamed as IISCO Steel Plant. One of the oldest full-fledged integrated steel plants produced iron for the first time in 1922 from an open-top blast furnace situated in Burnpur, formerly known as Hirapur, West Bengal.
The reasons why Iron and steel industry is called a basic industry are as follows:
i) Most of the small and medium industries depend on the Iron and Steel Industry.
ii) Heavy engineering tools are made up of Iron and Steel.
iii) This industry provides employment to a large number of people.
India is an important iron and steel producing country in the world, yet we are not able to perform to our full potential because of high cost and limited availability of coking coal, irregular supply of power, lower productivity of labour and poor infrastructure.

Note: India's significant market for steel and items made of steel include the USA, Canada, Indonesia, Italy, West Asia, Nepal, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, Sri Lanka and Belgium.