For centuries, Britons have been knocking on India’s door. The would-be nabobs of the East India Company, the ambitious younger sons seeking to make their own way in the Indian Army, Latin tutors for Rajput princes, not to mention the unmarried girls of the “fishing fleet” setting sail in search of husbands... The colonial relationship ended with independence in 1947, but then later generations of Brits headed out – and maybe dropped out – in search of spiritual enlightenment (or to party in Goa). These days, however, as the heart of the global economy travels ever East, Britons are much more likely to be pitching up for a job once again.

India is fast becoming a magnet for Western professionals seeking a unique opportunity in an economy growing at more than 9 per cent a year – or three times the rate of the UK’s. Forget about the outsourcing of British jobs to India. This is a wholesale migration of intellectual capital, with Indian companies recruiting Britons at undergraduate level and hiring managerial talent from around the world. There are thousands of Britons living and working full-time in India, and there are few crystal-gazing pilgrims to be found among them. The new generation of British immigrants is made up of investment bankers, venture capitalists, retailers, engineers, executives, pharmacists, actors and academics.

Solid numbers are hard to come by, but one study estimates that the British population in India is more than 32,000. The British High Commission in Delhi confirms that, anecdotally at least, the facts on the ground back up the idea of a growing number of migrants, from the trebling of flights from Britain to India, to the growing waiting lists at international schools. Bangalore is a case in point: more and more schools are opening to cater for the growing number of British and American families based in the IT hub, which, even as far back as 2004, was characterised by the local press as being “full of foreigners”.

Among those foreigners are the children of the Indian diaspora who have quit the lives their parents forged in Silicon Valley or Solihull to return to Mother India. Reverse migration aside, India is considered a good career move for many Brits with no family link to the sub-continent. As one Delhi-based specialist in relocation puts it: “Expats find the country exciting and want to have a two to three-year India stint on their CV.”

For an ambitious young banker, the posting would be a plum one compared to dull old Singapore. For a private equity player, India is an invitation to get rich, with the Bombay Stock Exchange (Asia’s oldest) offering huge returns. “The reason why foreigners come here now is either they have a skill that is not available in India, for example managing certain types of technology, or they are coming to put their own money in,” says Roddy Sale, a former investment banker who has lived in Bombay for 15 years.

India is also a nation of new and voracious consumers. Its middle class will balloon to 580 million by 2025, according to a recent study by management consultancy McKinsey. They will want shopping centres, gyms, doctors’ surgeries, cars, mobile phones and all the material trappings of affluence they know to exist in the West. Foreign suppliers are sending people over by the planeload to find out how they can satisfy this new demand.

For the expatriate executive, who can get by perfectly well just speaking English, life in India is good, with most of the luxuries of the West available, and a few besides. “I can afford to have people working for me, which I could not have in England,” says Clemy Sheffield, an art consultant from Reading who lives in Delhi. “It helps that I don’t have to waste time ironing my clothes.” Edward Oakley, 66, a carpet exporter who has lived in the eastern city of Mirzapur, near Varanasi, for 40 years, says: “When my father came to India [during the Raj], he would tell me it was a playground for the European middle classes. I think it is very similar now.”

Roddy Sale, 48, financier, Bombay

Sale, a former Welsh Guardsman who served in the Falkands, arrived in India as an investment banker in the early Nineties, when the Indian market first opened up. He was involved in the first big flotation of an Indian company – a debut that was so successful he was instructed to stay to win more mandates. After raising more than $3 billion for Indian companies through foreign listings, he is now adviser to a number of investment projects, including a proposed ski resort in the Himalayas.

“I discovered it was possible to create a business model here. As the appetite for India has grown, the need for advice on the ground has only been increasing. There are many entrepreneurs in India – with tremendous opportunities – but they do not necessarily have the creativity or the access to capital. That’s what keeps me interested,” he says.

An Old Etonian with passions for art, antiquities and horse racing, India offers Sale a chance for an eclectic life in interesting company. He also has a personal connection with Bombay, where his grandfather was an official in the colonial administration. His father’s cousin, Sir George Able, was private secretary to Lord Wavell and Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy. “I had an awareness of India, brought up with piles of black and white photos of hunting parties, but I had only been for a week. One reason I have stayed is the people, who are exceedingly welcoming. Englishmen have a huge amount in common with a great many Indians. When I first came here there were elements of life that were closer to the description of a hardship posting – the quality of hotels, restaurants – but over the past ten years that has changed remarkably.”

Caroline Young, 45, fashion consultant, Delhi