Question

Gujarat is the larger producer of salt in India because of ________.
A. It has extensive dry coast
B. It has extensive shallow seas
C. Its coastal water is very saline
D. Besides producing salt from saline water, it has reserves of rock salt

Answer 1

Hint: The region of Gujarat and the climatic conditions of it are different from the other states of our country. Thus making it to be one of the top five salt-producing states in India.

Complete step-by-step answer:
The third-largest producer of salt in the world is India. India has produced 300 lakh tonnes of salt in the year 2018 – 19. This was a bumper production. Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra are the top five salt-producing states in India. According to B.C.Raval, the president of the Indian Salt Manufacturers’ Association, Gujarat alone produces 260 lakh tonnes of salt. Gujarat alone contributes $76\% $ of India’s total salt production. Once the monsoon recedes in September in Gujarat, embankments are made to store the saltwater. At the starting of October, excavator machines with jagged teeth would shift the saltwater (called the brine, with a concentration of salt up to $26\% $) to assist evaporation. This water dries up in a couple of months and a thick layer of salt is formed which is scraped layer–by–layer. The cleanest product which is used for consumption is the top layer. The rest of the layers are cleaned and sent to the chemical industries before the next monsoon hits the region. This is all possible as Gujarat lies in a subtropical high-pressure zone which is characterized by semi-arid and arid conditions. The coastal zone of the state also remains dry during most parts of the year.

Thus, option (A) is correct.

Note: The production of salt in Gujarat is nine months every year, but this year it was only four months long as the rains were twice average which led to the dilution of salt. Lockdown has also affected the production of salt as many workers who returned to their villages for the festival of Holi have not come back.