India's Akruti plans US$200 mln IPO in Mumbai

TAIPEI, Mar 20 (Reuters) Indian real estate company Akruti Nirman Ltd. plans to list in Mumbai by the end of this year to raise about US0 million to fund projects in the fast growing Indian property market.

Outside India, the Mumbai-based company is also looking for business partners in Taiwan and plans to tap other markets, such as Europe and the United States, managing director Vimal Shah told Reuters.

''We are planning to raise around US0 million, mainly to fund the setting up of cities, construction of cities and also infrastructure,'' Shah said on the sidelines of a business seminar in Taipei.

Akruti currently has annual revenues of US0 million and plans to grow to between US0 to US0 million in three years, due to brisk demand for everything from condominiums to roads, Shah said.

Its net profits are currently 30 to 35 per cent of revenue, Shah said.

JM Morgan Stanley is the underwriter of the company's listing plans on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange, both based in Mumbai, he said.

An expanding middle-class in a country of about one billion people and an economy growing at more than 8 per cent this year are fuelling a boom in India's property market and luring foreign investors, such as Morgan Stanley ''We've changed gears last year and now we are concentrating on the whole of the country,'' Shah said.

Low interest rates, tax breaks and rising salaries have also contributed to property growth, analysts say.

Property funds with an estimated US TAIPEI, Mar 20 (Reuters) Indian real estate company Akruti Nirman Ltd. plans to list in Mumbai by the end of this year to raise about US$200 million to fund projects in the fast growing Indian property market.

Outside India, the Mumbai-based company is also looking for business partners in Taiwan and plans to tap other markets, such as Europe and the United States, managing director Vimal Shah told Reuters.

''We are planning to raise around US$200 million, mainly to fund the setting up of cities, construction of cities and also infrastructure,'' Shah said on the sidelines of a business seminar in Taipei.

Akruti currently has annual revenues of US$100 million and plans to grow to between US$500 to US$800 million in three years, due to brisk demand for everything from condominiums to roads, Shah said.

Its net profits are currently 30 to 35 per cent of revenue, Shah said.

JM Morgan Stanley is the underwriter of the company's listing plans on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange, both based in Mumbai, he said.

An expanding middle-class in a country of about one billion people and an economy growing at more than 8 per cent this year are fuelling a boom in India's property market and luring foreign investors, such as Morgan Stanley ''We've changed gears last year and now we are concentrating on the whole of the country,'' Shah said.

Low interest rates, tax breaks and rising salaries have also contributed to property growth, analysts say.

Property funds with an estimated US$2 billion in annual investments are waiting to tap India to win a slice of the burgeoning market lacking in almost every type of building.

''The roads, the buildings, the ports, the residential and commercial (sectors)... There is a huge opportunity in India available for Taiwanese companies,'' Shah said, adding that Akruti was looking for Taiwan partners.

Akruti is also looking outside of India for new avenues of growth.

''Indian businesses are also moving out, and we are also expanding to Europe and the USA,'' he said.

REUTERS SD SND1525 billion in annual investments are waiting to tap India to win a slice of the burgeoning market lacking in almost every type of building.

''The roads, the buildings, the ports, the residential and commercial (sectors)... There is a huge opportunity in India available for Taiwanese companies,'' Shah said, adding that Akruti was looking for Taiwan partners.

Akruti is also looking outside of India for new avenues of growth.

''Indian businesses are also moving out, and we are also expanding to Europe and the USA,'' he said.

REUTERS SD SND1525