New Delhi, March 3 -- India's manufacturing sector is doing better than we thought, as the Union statistics ministry's revised GDP estimates showed last week. The purchasing managers index (PMI) could have a told-you-so moment, given how it has been showing robust readings now for an extended period.

The HSBC India Manufacturing PMI, compiled by S&P Global, rose to a four-month high of 56.9 in February. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in activity while one below points to contraction. While China's index has been in a long slump, India's has been in expansion zone by several points for a comfortable stretch.

Our rejig of GDP estimation now takes the informal sector into account better and has also sorted out potential price-linke...