Bangalore: With signs of economic recovery prevalent in the job market, top executives have something to cheer about, as firms in India have turned bullish to poach CXOs to fill their top posts. Bank of America's investment banking unit Merrill Lynch, private equity fund Advent International and Kotak Mahindra Bank have started hiring people to fill some of their top posts. The companies are in hiring mode to boost revenues in a market which is seeing the return of major initial public offerings (IPO) and mergers and acquisition. Even Essar Group and S Kumars have started hiring, reports The Economic Times. Indian companies, after being cautious for nearly a year, see opportunities for profits after the Sensex's record gain and accelerating economic growth because of a series of stimulus packages. Record low interest rates are also driving demand. JSW Power, Indiabulls Power and many other companies also plan to list their shares to raise funds. "Top level hiring has steadily been inching up, across most sectors for the past few months," said Sonal Agrawal, Chief Executive, Accord Group India. Merrill and Nomura were among the companies that laid-off many executives after the Lehman bankruptcy triggered a credit crisis pushing the world into the economic crisis. Sourabh Sonthalia, CEO of AIG's asset management business, is returning to Merrill Lynch to head its capital markets business. Shailesh Pathak, formerly with ICICI Venture Funds Management, has joined Principle Europa Indian Infrastructure fund as its Managing Director. Advent appointed Shweta Jalan as its India Head. Kotak Mahindra is recruiting a Senior Banker from Nomura Securities, according to an investment banker. The Essar Group has hired Jayant Khosla as the Head of its Telecom Operations in Kenya. Also, it poached Malay Mukherjee as the CEO of Essar Steel from steelmaker, ArcelorMittal. S Kumars Nationwide has hired Asesh Amin from ColorPlus to head its garment business.