Vedanta, Foxconn's India chip venture is little more than a piece of paper

What we're really seeing is two companies petitioning the government for corporate welfare as it offers $7 bn of enticements to boost electronics manufacturing.

This week’s announcement that India’s Vedanta Group has tied up with Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group to make chips is being lauded as proof that New Delhi is gaining traction with its plans to build a semiconductor industry. That’s hardly the case.

Those hopeful that India can establish a foothold in the sector should temper their expectations, and instead keep an eye on the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for evidence that he will truly follow through on his big, expensive plan to build a local chip industry.

What Vedanta and Foxconn released on Feb. 14 was little more than