Venkatesh Valluri wanted “to hit the ground running” when he returned to India to set up a unit for Agilent, a manufacturer of electronic measurement instruments. But the former General Electric engineer ran into a tightening labour market with pockets of acute skills shortages. “It did not help that our requirement was for engineers who knew a thing or two about instruments that measure radio frequency.”

Mr Valluri’s problem is also India’s. Many experts say there is no greater business pressure in the country’s booming knowledge economy than the war for talent. It is exposing ravines of skills shortages as companies expand staffing and as foreign companies set up in India, where the economy is growing at more than 7 per cent a year.