Indian multinationals have been
active in the world economy since early 1960s. However, their number and scale
of operation have grown significantly in the last fifteen years or so. In the
face of increasing global competition unleashed by extensive liberalization
measures, Indian firms have adopted the strategy of outward foreign direct
investment (OFDI) as an integral part of their business strategies. By undertaking
greenfield OFDI
and brownfield OFDI for acquiring foreign companies, Indian firms are enhancing
their potential for growth and global competitiveness. Consequently India has
emerged as a major developing source country of FDI and Indian multinationals
are likely to affect world development in several ways.

The book analyses the phenomenon
of Indian multinationals from both macro level factors and firm-level corporate
strategies and examines its implications for India and host countries. A
detailed investigation of Indian overseas investment flows and stocks from
sectoral, regional, ownership and motivational perspectives provides a rigorous
long-run coverage of Indian multinational firms from 1970s onwards. The role of
innovation, entrepreneurial skills, scale of business, productivity, and the role
of government policies, received critical attention in explaining the emergence
of Indian multinationals. The comprehensive quantitative and case studies approach
offers valuable insights into the behaviour and impacts of these new global
actors on home and host countries.

This book offers a number of
lessons to home country, host countries, and Indian enterprises becoming
multinationals. With the growing global interest from policy makers, business
practitioners, researchers, and students in Indian multinationals, this book
would serve as an important and timely reading for all of them.