Wall Street and the Square Mile might be kicking investment bankers into the street, but India is taking them on by the team-load.

Sourabh Chattopadhyay, director of recruiters Options Group in Mumbai, says local players are competing for people with international banks: “Some international banks have lost key people in the last year and must bring in new talent to be competitive. Similarly, local players like Kotak, Enam and Edelweiss have been really building their investment banking platforms.”

UBS is looking to double its investment banking team in India; Citigroup has hired an Indian MD in preparation for an expansion; Merrill’s John Thain has said he wants to up the bank’s Indian operations; Goldman is launching new services; and even Dresdner is getting in on the act.

Hiring is aggressive, poaching is rife, and banks are lifting whole teams out of competitors, Chattopadhyay says.

Generous payouts are encouraging some Indian bankers, who might otherwise have worked in London or New York, to consider their options. Milan Sharma, a Masters in Finance student at London Business School and former assistant vice president in Axis Bank’s i-banking division, says he ideally wants to work in the City, but has already had a number of offers back in India.

“At a typical base of $100k, it’s not great money by Western standards, but the cost of living in Mumbai is considerably lower than in London,” he says.

Indian firms still opportunistically tap UK talent, but don’t expect to be treated like royalty, says Ronesh Puri, managing director of the New Delhi office of search firm Executive Access.

“Previously there was a dearth of good talent locally, and there was a premium paid for Western experience, but that’s no longer the case.”

M&A pay in top-tier Indian investment banks

Analyst (1st-3rd years) £20k-£32.5k (base), £25k-£40k (bonus)

Associate (1st-3rd years) £35k-£50k (base), £30k-£65k (bonus)

Vice president £62k (base), £100k-£138k (bonus)

Director £75k (base), £200k-£250k (bonus)

Managing director £100k (base), £300k-£400k (bonus)

Source: The Options Group (original figures in Indian rupees, converted at £1 = INR79.85)