New Delhi, Oct. 6 -- India's new Electronic Component Manufacturing Scheme, with an outlay of Rs.22,919 crore for incentives linked to production, investment and job creation in the field of making electronic components, has taken off with a bang.

Subsidy-seeking proposals have piled up at the ministry of electronics and information technology that add up to almost double the plan's target of Rs.59,000 crore in investment.

If all goes well, we can expect local supply chains to materialize for the tiny bits that go into mobile phones, which form a significant part of our exports, thereby raising domestic value addition in a sector we hope will emerge as a global factory, no matter which way trade winds blow.

So, is India better placed n...