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 India saw 332 deals worth $9.7 billion in the first quarter this year, a huge 46 per cent decline in volumes and 35 per cent drop in value term year-on-year, a report showed on Tuesday.

The new year saw a slow start for domestic players who were the driving force in 2022.

According to Grant Thornton Bharat's Dealtracker report, while the world is still reeling with the aftereffects of the Russia-Ukraine war, in terms of global recessionary trends, the recent Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse added further uncertainty.

The M&A activity recorded 76 deals worth $4.4 billion. This was 56 per cent lower in volumes and a 21 per cent decline in values over Q1 2022.

The private equity (PE) activity also witnessed a declining trend both in terms of volumes and values by 42 per cent and 44 per cent, respectively recording 256 deals worth $5.3 billion investment.

This was the lowest quarterly volumes and values recorded since Q4 2020, the report mentioned.

Shanthi Vijetha, Partner, Growth at Grant Thornton Bharat, said the funding winter continued in Q1 2023 resulting in PE activity recording its lowest in the last eight quarters.

"Further, the global developments appear to have dampened the deal activity of the domestic players, however, it seems to be temporary as the pre-deal activity picked up in March/ April," she added.

The start-up sector continued to lead the deal activity with 22 per cent of the deals for the quarter (this was 71 per cent lower over Q1 2022), recording only 17 deals valued at $69 million.