Rising star of Indian offshore business services, Genpact (once part of General Electric) has announced that it is on the acquisition trail in India and Europe, offering the intriguing prospect of a small number of Indian companies stepping in to acquire depressed stocks as the economic chill spreads across the West and the rupee rises against the dollar.

Genpact president and CEO Pramod Bhasin said: “While captives are an interesting proposition, we would like to acquire in the verticals of finance and HR." The company will be eyeing acquisitions in India, US and Europe, he added.

Bhasin used the platform at this year's annual Nasscom conference to say that his company is also ramping up operations in China, where the company experienced growth of some 40 percent last year.

On the economic gloom elsewhere in the world he had this to say: “Business is as usual. We are sharpening our skills. There is a general uncertainty in the US market, and there might be a dip in the short-term but US will remain the largest economy.”

Genpact is one of several business process outsourcing (BPO) specialists in India that are also planning a move into keeper into knowledge process outsourcing (KPO). Genpact, in particular, is now pushing the idea that talent, skills, and expertise will become the true currency of the outsourcing industry, as client companies focus less on short-term cost-cutting measures and more on sourcing creatively to complement local services.

Two growing areas of KPO are actuarial and analytical services, where there is a considerable skills base in India. However, local wages remain at a relatively low percentage – albeit a rising one – of similar positions in the US and western Europe, so cost clearly remains a major part of the attraction for potential clients in the US and Europe. India is doing healthy business selling knowledge-based services and expertise to US-based and other client companies.

On the second day of the Mumbai Nasscom event, Bhasin took part in a forum on 'Making Corporate Boards More Effective'. There he said that he believed boards are “overwhelmingly burdened with governance issues, they’re automatically tuned to think about risks and compliance issues more rather than focus on strategy.”

Salil Parekh of Capgemini, who is acting CEO of the company's India operations, said: “Managing the boards is a challenge. We need to make the board members more active. One of the way to do this is to make them accountable," which is a very different take on the governance question.

Francois Enaud, CEO of Steria (which recently acquired Xansa) said that companies on the acquisition trail should not put money and time into small acquisitions.

Indeed, it may be that we are about to see some big acquisitions this year, as India begins extending its presence and expertise deeper into the West.