India, Dec. 28 -- "Designed in California, assembled in India" is no longer just a line printed on an iPhone box. It has become a real-world test of India's economic choices. As smartphone exports rise and global companies shift their supply chains toward India, a bigger question sits in the background. Is India actually earning from this shift, or merely hosting the assembly lines while the real profits flow elsewhere?

India has emerged as one of the world's most digitally integrated economies, ranking third globally in economy-wide digitalisation and twelfth among G20 nations in terms of individual user digital adoption. The country's digital economy is projected to expand at nearly twice the pace of the overall economy, with its share...