Tetley is a household name in the UK and as such, gives Tata valuable inroads into the UK's tea market. Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata group, said: "It is not easy for an Indian company to acquire abroad. This acquisition will place Tata Tea strongly in the markets of Europe, North America and Australia".

Although tea consumption remains strong in Britain, youngsters are increasingly turning to coffee. The Americans – as usual – have begun to make their presence felt with chains such as Starbucks opening cafés in London and other parts of the country.

The opening of the Indian economy since the early nineties, has seen a change in the countries business culture, this was evident in the Tata Tea deal. The quite confidence of Indian business groups was reflected in the comments of Rajan Tata, when he said "As the country is opening up, it is significant that Indian companies are going international to acquire companies with reputed brands. We hope many other Indian companies will follow us."

The last year has witnessed Indian software firm Infosys became the first Indian company to be listed on New York's Nasdaq exchange, followed quickly by Satyam Infoway. More recently, long-term lender ICICI listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

The finance minister Mr Yashwant Sinha in his budget announcement later today will hope to cash in on the general bullish sentiment about the economy. This in the context of reining in an escalating deficit while providing for a growth oriented budget.

- nriol.com report