India needs its electronic product industry.

The demand for electronic products is increasing with an enormous acceleration. India does not have a, 'industry type' electronic product industry.

According to a recent report by Ernst & Young, the Indian domestic demand for electronics products is expected to reach $125 billion by 2014, up from the current level of $45 billion annually. The primary demand drivers are sectors like telecom, defence, IT and e-governance, automotive, consumer electronics, and energy.

This may result in sidelining petroleum products in so far as the foreign trade deficit is concerned. On the other hand, if this unique opportunity is utilized, it can create a large industry catering to domestic consumption, which will help achieve self reliance in strategic sectors like telecom and defence, while leading to large exports.

Electronic products contribute to over 22 percent of GDP of Israel and over 15 percent for Korea and Taiwan. Also, as a global player, U.S. has over 40 percent share of global electronic products markets and China has 15 percent, whereas the share of India is close to nil.

Given these ingredients of huge domestic demand coupled with availability of highly talented technical and managerial workforce, not to talk of venture capitalists that have the financial resources to provide the necessary funding for capable product startups, what is missing and why don’t we have the likes of Cisco, Apple, Nokia, etc. etc. from India?