Natural Resources, Income Distribution and Development:

Use of  natural  resources for development depends on  the availability of capital acd labour. It also depends  on  the  available technology  to  use and  exploit various resources under the soil. Proper utilization and conservation of resources therefore is an urgent task for all the countries. It is important to know that natural resources of a country give a direction  to the  economic  structure of  a  country. Availability of certain natural  resources, their quantities and  the spread within a country determine the kind of industries that come up  in these areas.

The production  structure or  the  use  of factors  of  production  in  an  economy  is determined by  the pattern  of  income distribution. In  a highly  inegalitarian society, a vast section of the population lives on  subsistence activities, while a smali minority lead  a luxurious life. In an  economy where the production  structure is dominated by the demands of the  small number of wealthy, the use of natural  resources would  be limited to catering to their demand. As a result, there  is no change in  the quality of  life of a vast section of population  in  spite of developments in science and technology and  increasing use of natural resources.