A good lifestyle, family and a bagful of business opportunities are pulling Indians, born and brought up abroad, back to their roots, says Tapash Talukdar

AT 27, Atma Shivalanka's portfolio reads like a lead character from some Hollywood potboiler. A management graduate from London School of Economics, he served the British Army for five years; born and raised in London, he is a trained boxer, loves halfmarathons and is learning Yoga.

So, what brings him to Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, and pursue one-year postgraduation programme in management? "India has huge opportunities in the oil and gas sector and my aim is to become one of the major service providers here, in the coming years," says Mr Shivalanka, who founded Avatar Oil Field Services, offering geo-physical solutions to the country's major oil and gas extraction companies. "It feels great to be back and be able to eat my favourite food here," he says.

Mr Shivalanka's ideas are not just gas. A growing number of entrepreneurs, born and brought up in foreign land, are flying down to be a part of a rising India to tap exciting business opportunities here. That they can relate to their Indian roots adds a certain emotional value to their decision too. Mr Shivalanka and his breed of entrepreneurs aim at transforming the way business is done in the country, especially in rural areas.

That's what a team of researchers at Duke, Harvard and Berkeley universities found in a poll of 1,203 returnees to India and China about a year ago. According to the study, most of these people returned in their prime: the average age of the Indian returnees was 30. They were well educated: Among Indians, 66% held a masters and 12% PhDs. These degrees were mostly in management, technology and science. Most thought that they had better prospects in their home country; even if salaries were comparatively lower, their lifestyles would be better and they could live with family.

The head of the team, Vivek Wadhwa of Harvard University, recently warned America of a reverse brain drain never seen in the history of the country. Mr Wadhwa pointed out that more than 52% of Silicon Valley's startups during the recent tech boom were started by foreign-born entrepreneurs. "It is very possible that some of the smart Indians who sat in the room with me holding their hand up on Columbus Day will start the next Google or Apple. Many of them will build companies which employ thousands. But the jobs will be in Hyderbad or Pune, not Silicon Valley."

Increasingly, the second or third-generation of NRIs are being pulled towards India's growth story. Armed with technology-driven degrees, hands-on experience, this young breed of foreign-bred entrepreneurs is raring to bring a large difference to the land of their origin. The global recession has also cautioned many aspirant 'techies' to look for 'home-grown' opportunities, according to several fund managers. "The young lot brings in a lot of passion, energy and technological mindset to start a fresh venture. Also, there is an emotional and social connect in coming back home," says Sachin Maheshwari of VC fund Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

Rikin Gandhi, 28, has no less illustrious a portfolio than Mr Shivalanka. Born in New Jersey, USA, to Gujarati parents, he studied engineering in aeronautical from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, and joined software behemoth Oracle in California. He was also selected to join the US Air Force as a pilot but, instead, he flew home to give wings to his dreams and founded Digital Green, an NGO that makes agribased videos to help farmers enhance crop yield. "We are encouraging a large number of farmers to see and practise the novel ways of farming to increase their earnings," says Mr Gandhi, who instead of prattling away in American accent, is trying to brush up his Kannada so that he can interact with farmers better. From initial 20 villages in Kanakpura when he founded Digital Green, his video content has been able to penetrate 1,200 villages across India in two years. "Though we have stayed out of India, we know this is the right time to be here," says Saureen Shah, who takes care of software division at Digital Green.

Mr Shah is right. A management graduate from Harvard Business School, Abhi Shah, 31, was clear in his mind to set up his own venture. In 2006, the Georgia-born turned down offers from MNCs and headed India to found Clutch, a legal process outsourcing (LPO) firm, in Bangalore. The recession years bolstered his LPO business and Shah felt vindicated. "We see tremendous opportunities in the current times and it would bring in additional work order for us," says Mr Shah, whose firm got the highest ranking by Frost & Sullivan last year in the core legal services outsourcing category.

With his 300-plus lawyers' team, Clutch caters to over 40 clients across the globe (a couple of them listed in Fortune-100 companies) at cost-effective rates. "India has a large number of legal professionals, much more than the US and the UK, with efficient energy to work under pressure," says Mr Shah who wants to double the count size in Clutch to over 600 legal professionals over the next three years. "Youth is the biggest strength of India. More than 70% of our population is under 35. This age belongs to India," Mr Shah says enthusiastically.

But it is not about doing well for oneself. To most young entrepreneurs, who have had an exposure to western work culture, their ventures at home are not about wealth creation only but also adding value to society. "Each one of us should in some way or other create a better India without seeking help from government," advises Anand Shah, 32. Born in Houston, he did his graduation in Biology from Harvard and taught for two years in the same school. When he came back in 2001 to work with an NGO, he sensed something more was needed. Initially, it was tough to get service tax numbers and understand business formalities in India, but Shah was firm in his resolve. In 2008, with the help of Piramal Foundation, he co-founded Sarvajal, a social venture which develops sustainable drinking water solutions for those rural and urban areas where the quality of water caused more than 60% of common health ailments. "Though it is not as easy as in the US, we must try to make a difference," says Mr Shah. Mr Shivalanka puts his finger on the pulse when he adds to Shah's views: "A fresh breeze of entrepreneurship is flowing across the country."

"Even those young entrepreneurs who have not even seen India before, are determined to settle down in India," says 49-year-old Ajoy Veer Kapoor, founder of Saffron Capital Advisors. Mr Kapoor's own story is one of a pleasant homecoming after trotting the globe. "My father was an IFS officer, so we used to travel around the world every two or three years," recalls Mr Kapoor. Having studied in the UK, he worked for Barclays Bank for a couple of years and was offered the position of chief executive officer of HSBC Mexico operations for a large portfolio in 2005. But as luck would have it, he packed his bags for homeland. Today, his firm is managing a fund of $450 million to be invested in real estate firms. "Next, we are planning to invest in clean-tech, affordable housing, healthcare and infrastructure based companies in India," he says, then adds with a smile, "How long can I keep away from the real Punjabi food?"

Source: Economic Times