America’s Wall Street and Mumbai’s Nariman Point may be miles apart in terms of location, but India’s financial capital is in danger of being overrun by some of the world’s biggest investment banks.

Unlike Wall Street’s invasion in the mid-90s, which ended abruptly following a slowdown in business and increased legislation, this particular conquest shows no sign of abating.

Accountancy firm Grant Thornton recently claimed that $39 billion worth of deals had been completed in India in the first quarter of 2007, with Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse and Meryll Lynch just four of the big names that have benefited from the move to Mumbai.

However, in a competitive marketplace where the margins on equity deals are, according to one of ABN Amro’s leading figures in the country, Romesh Sobi, “very very thin”, none are expecting an easy ride.

The rush to do business in a city that is the home of Bollywood cinema has sent salaries soaring, and with fund managers still thin on the ground, the problem of recruitment and talent retention is likely to continue.

However, whilst Goldman Sachs chief executive in India, L. Brooks Entwhistle, admitted in a recent interview with the New York Times that the real way to make money in this part of the world at the present time is to “advise, finance and invest”, many are content to build their businesses until the large deals begin to come along.