With the notable exception of cricket, India, a country of 1.2 billion, seems to have had little to no major impact on the sporting world stage. India has won a combined total of 23 medals at the Olympics, for example, in its entire history -- the worst medal-count-to-population ratio of any nation that has won at least two medals -- and this medal count was bolstered only by the last two Olympics, in which, only recently, India won about 2/5ths of its entire medal count.
This is in stark contrast to India's neighbor and fellow billion+ populated country, China, which is one of the world's top medal winners at the Olympics and World Championships in a variety of events, and has produced at least one major star in the NBA, and a variety of other top athletes in tennis, volleyball, track, and other sports.
What has led to India's poor performance in the sporting world? Is the interest simply not there? Has it been a government policy to de-prioritize sports? Is there not much money to be made in athletics? Or is there something else at play?
China invests far more in sports programs and training systems than India. It is as simple as that.
Like most Communist/former Communist countries, China saw the Olypmics in particular as being an incredibly important event in which they could show off their nations talent to the world. Therefore, starting in the 1970's (I have to double check) China began a program to develop some of the worlds best athletes. Physically gifted prospects were given preferential treatment (such as Yao Ming).
This is all a sketchy summary of a book I read some time ago Operation Yao Ming: The Chinese Sports Empire, American Big Business, and the Making of an NBA Superstar by Brook Larmer
Creating a successful international sports program requires a lot of time, money and expertise. Prospects have to be picked out at a fairly young age for many sports or have to be given the chance to develop their athletic abilites through other sports (For example it is very common for American Football players to turn into Track stars)
In India, this system doesn't exist outside of Cricket.