When Sun Pharmaceutical Industries agreed to buy women’s healthcare company Organon for $11.75 billion in April, it was not just another big-ticket overseas deal. It became the biggest foreign acquisition by an Indian company in almost 20 years. But beyond the headlines, the deal also revealed something bigger about corporate India’s mood right now.
The country’s biggest companies are no longer just talking about expanding abroad, they are actively buying global businesses at a record pace.
According to a Grant Thornton report cited by the BBC, 162 Indian companies spent more than $18 billion on overseas acquisitions in 2025, marking a sharp 34% jump from the previous year.
India’s overseas shopping spree is getting bigger
According to the data from RBI, at the same time, India’s outward foreign direct investment, or outbound FDI, climbed to $48.6 billion in FY26 from $41.6 billion in FY25. In April alone, outbound FDI surged nearly 90% year-on-year to $6.8 billion. Big names like Tata Communications, Life Insurance Corporation of India, and JSW Neo Energy led the charge.
Some of the biggest deals this year include:
- Sun Pharmaceutical Industries buying Organon
- Tata Motors acquiring Italian truck maker Iveco for $4.4 billion
- Coforge purchasing Silicon Valley AI firm Encora for $2.35 billion
- Bajaj Group buying a 23% stake in German insurer Allianz SE
According to analysts at Grant Thornton, Indian companies now have stronger balance sheets. But it also highlights another issue, Indian firms still struggle to use their own stock as currency in global deals the way American or European companies often do.
Growth at home remained uneven
Even though India’s economy continued growing at a healthy pace, many businesses were seeing a more complicated picture on the ground. India’s Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran recently pointed out that profits of India’s top 500 companies grew at over 30% annually after Covid. Yet private investment has still remained weak.
Foreign investors were also pulling money out of Indian markets because of expensive stock valuations and changing global conditions. Net foreign direct investment stayed weaker than expected, even though gross inflows hit records during some periods. Over the years, the Indian currency has steadily weakened against the dollar, losing nearly 40% of its value every decade.
Why Indian companies are choosing foreign markets
Experts say Indian businesses are seeing better opportunities overseas.
“There is plenty of Indian money heading abroad. Even among the companies that we own in our portfolio, many are setting up greenfield factories in the US and other places where industrial land is almost free and accessing working capital is much easier than here,” Saurabh Mukherjea of Marcellus Investment Managers told the BBC. And it is not just giant corporations making these moves.
Mukherjea said many smaller Indian firms are also quietly investing abroad, building factories overseas or buying smaller companies outside India.
Mukherjea said upcoming free trade agreements between India and countries like the UK, Australia, and European nations could trigger even more outbound investments in the years ahead.
On top of that, many next-generation business heirs now live or study abroad. Naturally, they also want to hold assets in foreign currencies. Even as Indian businesses expand globally, experts believe companies will remain careful about making huge investments inside India.
Harsh Goenka, chairman of the RPG Group, recently shared what several businessmen told him about why they are holding back domestic investment. He listed concerns like “policy and tax uncertainty,” “fear of unpredictable regulatory action,” weak demand visibility, and “long legal and approval delays.”
The debate on X shows a deeper divide
Reactions on X have largely split into two camps. One side sees these acquisitions as proof of India’s growing global power. Many celebrated the move calling it “India buying the West” moment, similar to the excitement around Tata’s Jaguar Land Rover acquisition years ago.
But critics questioned, “if Indian companies have money, why are they choosing to build factories in America instead of states like Rajasthan or Odisha?” Why do businesses sometimes find it easier to operate in places like Ohio than Pune?
Financial services have become the biggest contributor to India’s outward FDI between FY21 and FY26, while manufacturing’s share has fallen sharply. Upcoming trade agreements with countries and regions like the UK, EU, and Australia could further push Indian companies to strengthen their presence overseas.
Disclaimer: This article is based on publicly available reports, company announcements, industry data, and media coverage, including information cited by the BBC and Grant Thornton. Some deal values, projections, and market assessments may change as new information becomes available.