Indian companies are also raising their profile on the foreign exchanges. Businesses quoted on the London market include forge manufacturer Bharat Forge, car company Mahindra & Mahindra and energy supplier Reliance Energy. Among the firms listed on the Nasdaq in the US are IT services provider Infosys Technologies – the first Indian company ever to be listed – and internet portal business Rediff.com India.

The battle among foreign companies to invest in India is fierce, too. UK telecoms giant Vodafone finally won the fight to control India’s fourth-largest mobile operator, Hutchison Essar, in a €14.4bn deal. This was the single largest foreign investment in India’s history.

“Vodafone was desperate to get into India, where the subscription potential is massive,” says Sedgwick. “It knows there are infrastructure issues to overcome before the market can move from 2G to 3G and beyond, but it can help speed things up.”

Branding strategist Niclas Ljungberg is an expert on the Indian economy and is due to publish a book entitled Brand India later this year. He believes the point at which world stock markets quiver when India has a crisis could be less than one year away. “The more India becomes involved in globalisation and the more inward investment it attracts, the greater the influence it will have on international investors and the decisions they make,” he asserts.

Ljungberg says India is also encouraging stronger trading relationships between countries throughout Asia to challenge the traditional north/south agreements historically signed with the US and the EU.

“Conversations at the WTO and ever since the Doha Declaration in 2001 have tended to focus on what Western countries can wrestle from elsewhere, and this has left developing nations frustrated,” says Ljungberg. “They have been expected to open their markets, while the US and the EU have been reluctant to do the same. India is now leading the discussions between Asian countries to develop pricing models so they can trade together more effectively.”

This is a trend that could have a further impact on global markets and might mean there is eventually a shift in the balance of power among the world’s financial centres.

A study by research house Z/Yen confirms that for now at least, London remains the world’s most competitive financial centre. In fact, Z/Yen director Michael Mainelli believes the UK capital and New York will continue to be the two beating hearts of the global financial industry for many years to come, regardless of how quickly the Asian economies grow.

Z/Yen’s Global Financial Centres Index measures factors such as where financial institutions site their head offices and social issues including quality of life and transport links. It ranks New York second behind London, with a big gap to Hong Kong in third and Singapore in fourth. Tokyo is ninth, with Beijing a distant 36th and Mumbai 39th.

“A major Asian financial centre to rival London or Wall Street is not emerging yet,” says Mainelli. “Our research has shown that institutions make their decisions based on what they perceive are financial cities, not a region’s economy. They need to be able to connect with the right people.”

There is already evidence that the right people are moving to Asia, however. A survey by headhunters Napier Scott published at the end of March reveals that pay for experienced traders in derivatives and bond-based products is now higher in Asia than in New York as companies outbid each other for talent.

THE SHOW

CNBC ’s pan-regional programme Capital Connection is bridging the financial news gap between the Asian business day and market activity in Europe.

Guests on the first show, broadcast on Monday, 26 March, included James Shugg, senior economist at Westpac Bank in London, and Kurt Barrow, senior principal at energy consultancy firm Purvin & Gertz. Barrow talked about the geopolitical tensions between Iran and the West – following the capture earlier that month of UK navy personnel by Iran – and the impact they could have on oil prices.

The pan-regional programme airs between 6 am and 7 am CET every weekday and is broadcast simultaneously on CNBC Europe, CNBC Asia and CNBC World.

Capital Connection is co-anchored by Steve Sedgwick in London and Maura Fogarty in Singapore. “This show recognises the power of the Asian economy to influence business decisions in Europe and beyond,” says Sedgwick. “Viewers can see live what is happening in Asia and analyse how events can and will affect them. We are also looking closer at Australia, where many stocks, particularly in the mining sector, can affect European markets.”