New Delhi, Sept. 1 -- For much of corporate India's recent history, mergers and acquisitions (M&As) have been viewed as an occasional growth lever, deployed selectively when opportunities aligned. That is changing. Increasingly, M&As are being used as a core strategic tool to pursue scale, capabilities and market leadership in an environment where speed can be as important as strategy.

Annual M&A volumes have more than doubled since 2016-17, reflecting a growing conviction among corporate leaders that these can speed up growth, provide entry to new markets and acquire capabilities that would take years to build organically. In many cases, an acquisition is a competitive necessity more than an option.

What makes the current cycle interes...