Between April 2010 and March 2011 Indian companies invested nearly $44 billion overseas, more than double the previous year.

They have gone to Africa, Asia, Europe and Australia in sectors ranging from farming, pharmaceuticals and energy, to telecommunications and infrastructure. D.K. Joshi, chief economist at the Crisil consulting firm in Mumbai, says the growing investments are driven by several factors.

"Indian corporates have been cash rich and on top of that the foreign exchange regulations were liberalized so that allowed Indians to go out," Joshi noted. "The valuations of foreign companies after the global financial crisis, they were pretty good, so it made sense to go out and acquire companies to expand the global footprint."

The overseas investors include some of India's biggest groups, including: Reliance Industries, the Tata conglomerate, the Essar Group and Bharti Airtel. The Tata conglomerate now earns more than half its revenues overseas.

Chandrajit Banerjee, who heads the Confederation of Indian Industry, says Indian companies have become increasingly confident as they have grown in scale and size since India liberalized its economy two decades ago.

"They became ambitious, their aspiration levels went up, and therefore they started looking offshore," said Banerjee. "Indian industry has today become much more competitive and therefore they are being able to acquire, they are able to match technology, they are able to export, they are able to invest."