, Columnist
Welcome Back, Indian Billionaires
Recapturing the crown from China will be tough, but watch this space.
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It's hard to believe it now, but once upon a time Indians had a far bigger appetite for outbound M&A than their Chinese rivals.
That was just before the 2008 financial crisis, which dealt a body blow to India Inc.'s global ambitions. Then, in quick succession, came the credit-fueled growth of China's state-owned enterprises; the yuan's appreciation; a string of corruption scandals in India that bred a climate of distrust in 2013 and 2014; and the subsequent meltdown in commodity markets, which hurt the more internationally active Indian buyers.