The diaspora has spread beyond Silicon Valley.

Indian-born executives have in recent years taken the reins at some of the world's biggest companies. Arun Sarin, a native of Madhya Pradesh in central India, is CEO of Britain's Vodafone. Three months ago, Indra Nooyi was named CEO of PepsiCo after serving five years as the U.S. beverage giant's CFO. Indians have credibility as managers, says Hemant Luthra, head of the Systems & Automotive Technologies division at Indian car-and-tractor manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra. This was not always so. Luthra remembers visiting Hong Kong in 1991 when India's government was close to bankruptcy. "I had $100 in my pocket and if I went into a watch shop the salesmen would instantly show me the cheapest watches just because I was Indian," he says.

Three years ago, Mahindra tried to buy Finland's biggest tractor company. Luthra says Finnish newspapers ran stories "asking how dare an Indian look at buying Finland's crown jewels?" But those things don't happen to him anymore, he says. "When we go and talk to these people in Germany or the U.K., it's a given that we're professional managers capable of running a huge business," says Luthra, who last month was juggling the final details of four separate acquisitions. "My biggest problem is finding the bandwidth to look at all the opportunities that come across my desk every day."

India's economic and business bandwidth is likely to continue growing. Take Essel Propack. The toothpaste-tube maker has begun to diversify in more profitable markets by buying a British company that makes packaging for upscale cosmetics and toiletries, and a U.S. company that makes medical products like catheters and esophageal balloons. "We'll keep looking for the right opportunities," says Essel Propack's managing director Ashok Goel. "And when we see something we like, we'll go for it." As Indian companies following that same script continue to expand overseas, in the future we'll be buying more than toothpaste tubes stamped "Made in India."