Lack of hardware manufacturing hits India

Global technology companies such as Samsung Electronics Co, Apple Inc and Sony Corp are poised to see surging sales in India as the country's anemic technology manufacturing sector can't satisfy booming demand for TVs and smartphones.

The world's fastest-growing market for consumer electronics has few homegrown makers of flat-panel TVs and no producers of mobile phones or the semiconductors and displays used in the devices. Last year, the nation of 1.2 billion people spent $14.2 billion importing screens and smartphones, accounting for 90 percent of demand, government data show.

India's technology manufacturers haven't kept pace with its software industry, which last year contributed 4.7 percent of the country's $1.8 trillion gross domestic product. While the government is trying to support local output with subsidies, only foreign companies have the technology needed to benefit from incentives, according to India's Department of Electronics and Information Technology.