Indian billionaires buy foreign companies as growth slows at home

In precocious April, India's Sun Pharmaceuticals agreed to wage $11.75bn (£8.59bn) to get New York-listed women's wellness and biosimilars steadfast Organon & Co.

It marked the biggest overseas acquisition by an Indian institution successful astir 2 decades and followed a drawstring of high-profile planetary deals by Indian firms successful caller months.

These see Tata Motors' $4.4bn acquisition of Turin-based conveyance shaper Iveco, IT institution Coforge's $2.35bn acquisition of Silicon Valley-based AI steadfast Encora and the Bajaj Group buying a 23% involvement successful planetary security elephantine Allianz SE earlier successful 2025.

Data from consultancy Grant Thornton shows that 162 Indian companies spent much than $18bn connected outbound acquisitions successful 2025 - a 34% summation from the erstwhile year.

"We could transverse $15bn successful woody worth successful conscionable the archetypal fractional of this year," Sumeet Abrol, spouse and nationalist person astatine Grant Thornton, told the BBC.

For many, this caller question of overseas acquisitions by India Inc evokes memories of the planetary buying spree led by companies specified arsenic the Tata Group 2 decades ago, erstwhile it made audacious bets for planetary trophy assets similar Jaguar Land Rover and Corus Steel.

But respective analysts told the BBC that the motivations this clip are somewhat different. Indian companies are pursuing Western assets not simply arsenic symbols of planetary ambition, but progressively for strategical and operational reasons.

The broader economical backdrop has besides changed sharply since the aboriginal 2000s. During the erstwhile acquisition boom, India was successful the midst of a roaring bull market. Today, the state is grappling with a accelerated exodus of overseas portfolio investors, a crisp slowdown successful nett overseas nonstop concern (FDI) and stubbornly anemic private assemblage investment contempt taxation cuts and production-linked subsidies offered by the government.

"Corporate profits [of India's apical 500 companies post-Covid] grew astatine 30.8% per annum. But still, our wide superior enactment rates from the backstage assemblage person been disappointing," India's main economical advisor V Anantha Nageswaran precocious said astatine a argumentation conference.

Experts accidental the unreserved to grow overseas - contempt repeated exhortations from the authorities to put much wrong India - reflects some increasing disaffection with the home concern situation and amended diversification and capability-building opportunities abroad.

"There is plentifulness of Indian wealth heading abroad. Even among the companies that we ain successful our portfolio, galore are mounting up greenfield factories successful the US and different places wherever concern onshore is astir escaped and accessing moving superior is overmuch easier than here," Saurabh Mukherjea of Marcellus Investment Managers told the BBC.

And it's not conscionable the large companies driving the trend.

While the Sun Pharma deal, oregon tycoon Mukesh Ambani's reported backing of a $300bn lipid refinery task successful Brownsville - announced by Donald Trump, though not publically confirmed by the Ambanis - whitethorn beryllium among the astir high-profile examples, Mukherjea said "dozens of smaller Indian companies are making akin greenfield investments oregon pursuing smaller acquisitions".

This inclination is supported by stronger equilibrium sheets and improved entree to planetary financing, according to Neha Singh, co-founder of the information quality institution Tracxn.

"Indian companies are progressively looking overseas to entree markets, brands, exertion capabilities, R&D expertise, and established organisation networks that whitethorn different instrumentality years to physique organically," Singh said.

These acquisitions person besides picked up gait arsenic companies look to support their proviso chains successful a satellite wherever chokepoints and commercialized tariffs are being rampantly weaponised, accidental experts.

Overseas acquisitions, however, tin beryllium deed oregon miss.

Tata Steel's acquisition of Corus Steel, for instance, turned retired beryllium an "albatross" astir the company's cervix for decades, says Mukherjea.

What is also striking, helium adds, is that adjacent aft each these years, Indian companies are inactive incapable to wage for these deals with shares. Even a woody arsenic ample arsenic the Sun Pharma 1 was all-cash, which tin beryllium financially risky.

Still, this volition not beryllium the past of specified acquisitions.

A spree of free commercialized deals betwixt India and the UK, Europe, Australia and different countries could hasten the inclination and pb to a "deluge of outbound deals from India arsenic companies caput disconnected to put successful the West to physique up bases successful the years to come", Mukherjea says.

Moreover, galore next-generation firm scions are choosing to unrecorded and survey abroad, truthful it is logical that they would privation to clasp their assets successful overseas currency, "especially due to the fact that the rupee loses 40% of its worth to the dollar each decade", helium adds.

But the overseas enlargement is apt to beryllium accompanied by "selective caution" connected ample home investments, says Singh.

India remains locked into a rhythm of anemic request and anaemic backstage investment, a inclination that has present besides been further exacerbated by a planetary vigor daze and the risks agentic-AI poses to its already anemic occupation market.

Whether India surpasses past year's $18bn fig remains uncertain due to the fact that of the existent "geopolitical aerial pocket", says Abrol of Grant Thornton.

But the semipermanent trend, experts say, is directionally clear: Indian companies volition hedge much and much against increasing economical uncertainties successful Asia's 3rd largest system astatine a clip erstwhile its authorities is desperately trying to curb an outflow of dollars and pull overseas superior to kick-start the home maturation engine.