"India-targeted M&A activity reached USD 19.9 bn via 484 deals this year to date, down 33 per cent on the same period last year, making it the lowest year to date level since 2006," global deal-tracking firm Dealogic said.

There had been M&A deals worth about USD 29.70 billion in the corresponding period in 2008.

Out of USD 19.9-billion M&A deals involving Indian firms, inbound deals amounted to USD 12.3 billion where foreign firms bought stake in Indian companies.

Inbound cross border M&A has fallen 27 per cent to USD 12.3 billion via 103 deals, the report said, adding outbound M&A activity fell marginally to USD 13.9 billion through 54 deals, a 0.40 per cent fall from the same period last year.

"Inbound cross border M&A volume would have dropped more significantly had it not been for MTN Group's USD 9.5 billion acquisition of a 7.7 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel, the second largest India inbound deal on record," Dealogic said.

The Bharti-MTN deal with a potential value of USD 23 billion is the largest M&A deal in the telecommunications sector in 2009 YTD.

Besides, the valuations of outbound deals too were propelled by Bharti Airtel's USD 13.2 billion acquisition of a further 36 per cent stake in MTN Group to increase its holding to 49 per cent.