Ranked by Forbes as India's richest man with a net worth of $32 billion, Mukesh Ambani is no stranger to taking risks.

The move by conglomerate Reliance Industries, controlled by Ambani, to bid for bankrupt LyondellBasell is a calculated one. Markets seem to think this is a bargain and investors pushed up Reliance's stock nearly 4 percent on Monday.

If the deal, which sources say may be worth $12 billion,  goes through, it would catapult Reliance into the ranks of top petrochemical makers such as Saudi Arabia's SABIC, Germany's BASF and Dow Chemical Co.

The bid comes at a time when asset prices have fallen globally in the wake of the economic crisis but there are still some lingering doubts over whether the worst is over for the global economy.

Reliance hasn't shied away from making mega investments during downturns.

Last December, Reliance commissioned a 580,000 barrels per day refinery next to its existing 660,00 bpd plant  in the western Indian state of Gujarat, creating the world's biggest oil refining complex just as global oil demand began to collapse.

Reliance has a cash pile of $4 billion and $8 billion in treasury stock that can be sold, so funding is unlikely to be an issue for the company, Macquarie said in a research note ahead of the bid. Bank of America Merrill Lynch is among the advisers for Reliance, sources said.

In its bid for Luxembourg-based LyondellBasell, which filed for bankruptcy protection in January, after being unable to make its debt obligations, Reliance, India's largest listed firm, with a market value of about $75 billion, might be taking advantage of the lack of any competing bids.

LyondellBasell had sales of close to $51 billion in the 2008/09 financial year, while Reliance, which has interests in petrochemicals, refining, oil and gas exploration, and retail, logged revenue of about $32 billion.

Exactly one year ago, squabbles over control forced Bharti Airtel and MTN to ditch their hope of forming a global telecoms group, but both emerging markets-focused companies are back on the negotiating table to thrash out a $61 billion merger.

What's changed?

For a start, both firms are now publicly talking about a detailed structure for the combined entity, something that was missing last time.

As part of an initial deal worth more than $23 billion unveiled on Monday, Bharti will pay in cash and shares for 49 percent of MTN, while MTN pays cash and stock for an effective 36 percent stake in the Indian firm. Previous merger talks collapsed when the South African firm proposed a new structure that would have seen Bharti become an MTN unit.

The past year has seen the full impact of a global recession that has spared few industries and MTN, sub-Saharan Africa's biggest mobile operator, and Bharti -- India's top mobile operator -- might be looking to combine to cope better in tough times.

Thanks to scorching growth in emerging markets, the combined entity boasts a user base of 200 million, catapulting it to the top five global industry players, while last year, the combined group would have ranked among the top ten.

MTN and Bharti are locked in exclusive talks for about two months, giving little room for rivals to upset their game plan.

For Indian telecoms tycoon, Sunil Bharti Mittal, this might be his last chance to acquire a global footprint for his firm.