The uncertainty and speculation are over. India's Tata will get the Jaguar and the Land Rover Brands from Ford at a price estimated to be $2 billion. Though unrelated, only yesterday did another Tata group company, Tata Chemicals, announce the acquisition of another US-owned company, soda-ash producer General Chemical Industrial Products, for $1 billion.

Coming as they do after Mittal’s acquisition of Arcelor, Tata’s acquisition of Corus, and a spate of Indian acquisitions in IT, BT and pharmaceuticals, the latest announcements seem to suggest that India is indeed an economic power to reckon with and perhaps more importantly, that Indian business leaders are moving away from a risk-averse mindset to an aggressive globe-conquering attitude with confidence.

India's continued move toward more of a leading role in the global economy is a natural corollary to the knowledge base that India has developed and the significant strides that the country has made in the knowledge sector. It also speaks to Indian firms' ability to easily assimilate different cultures, which stems from the rich cultural diversity within the country itself. Thus, integration problems that prove to be the stumbling blocks in the case of many mergers and acquisitions are amenable to better management by Indian professionals.

All this is not meant to suggest that the present acquisition is without any difficulties. One major hurdle that has to be crossed is brand recognition and identity. It would be futile to change the existing Jaguar and Land Rover names. And yet, the need for prefixing or suffixing the Tata name at some stage cannot be ignored. India has to build global brands. The fact that the Tata group has a very positive image driven by ethical practices and a high sense of social responsibility can be leveraged suitably to render the brand known and acceptable throughout the world. The phenomenal publicity that the entry-level Nano car has received can also be utilized to advantage – after all, how many auto makers can claim to have a range from $2500 to $65000? Tata also needs to learn from its failures. For example, one successful model in India – the Indica – has been not fared well as the exported City Rover in the UK.

Another challenge for Tata will be to neutralize the effect of their being unable to use the low-cost advantage that India offers – a pact with the Union forbids moving production away from UK.

For global managers and corporations, the present scenario offers both opportunities and threats. Even with the problems of infrastructure and energy, India is a good destination for investments -- the size of the country and the competition between states to offer incentives provides many alternative location choices; a skilled and educated work-force at a relatively low-cost is a formidable source of advantage; work stoppages in the private sector have become relics of another age; the robustness of the knowledge sector and the rapid growth of communication facilitate the absorption and adaptation of new technologies. The Right to Information Act has significantly changed the bureaucratic landscape, although a lot more remains to be done. Democracy is probably the biggest advantage.

On the other hand, ignoring India at this critical juncture may open the floodgates for more and more acquisitions as cash rich Indian companies scout the globe for possible takeover candidates. With interest rates going down in the developed world (a question that is being asked is whether and if so, when, would the US interest rate touch zero!) debt is indeed an attractive option for well-performing Indian companies, given the relatively high interest rates in the country.

In the final analysis, if the compulsions of coalition politics are placed on the back burner in the larger interests of the country, India can emerge as an economic superpower by 2025, if not earlier. Deals like this one may be just a small indication of what is to come.