When Reliance Industries, India’s largest private sector company, raised Rs31.9bn ($683m) in a share placement last month, a murmur ran through the market. Perhaps the oil and petrochemical group, controlled by India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, was girding itself for a global acquisition?

The country’s companies, among the most aggressive overseas acquirers during the boom years of 2006 and 2007, have pounced on the rebound in global stock markets to rebuild their balance sheets. Now, after the dearth of large mergers and acquisitions over the past 18 months, some are on the hunt again.