Why manufacturing sector is considered the backbone of economic development?

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Manufacturing sector is considered the backbone of economic development because:

(i)Manufacturing industries not only help in modernising agriculture, which forms the backbone of our economy, they also reduce the heavy dependence of people on agricultural income by providing them jobs in secondary and tertiary sectors.

(ii)Industrial development is a precondition for eradication of unemployment and poverty from our country. 

(iii)It also helps in bringing down regional disparities by establishing industries in tribal and backward areas.

(iv)Export of manufactured goods expands trade and commerce, and brings in much needed foreign exchange.

(v)Countries that transform their raw materials into a wide variety of furnished goods of higher value are prosperous.