"In India there is a problem of land. You cannot get big lands (land)," Agarwal said. "So Sudan, Ethiopia Tanzania Mozambique, Senegal, and many countries, they are offering big land on easy terms."

Indian businesses find it relatively easier to operate in Africa because ties with the region date back generations. Many Indians who migrated to Africa to build roads and railways in Britain's former colonies are settled in that continent.

Still many Indians find Africa a tough place to do business. Coovadia of the Essar group says the challenges in Africa are similar to those faced by investors in many developing countries.

"Bureaucracy is one issue, the complex politics, you need to understand and be sensitive to the politics and history of each country," Coovadia added. "Infrastructure is a critical one. You would expect e-mail and bandwidth to be good, simple infrastructure like that does not often work effectively, and then getting shipping and logistics done, port services done…a similar parallel to were India was a decade or two ago."

The thrust into Africa is backed by the government, which has pledged to increase investment and trade with the continent. But business analysts say that unlike China's push into Africa which is driven by its government, India's push into the continent is largely led by its private sector.