Blackstone nears $40 mln exit from India property deal - sources

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Blackstone Group LP is in talks to sell out of a New Delhi property investment for about $40 million, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters, in what would be its first exit from a property investment in the country.

U.S.-based Blackstone is selling its nearly 30 percent stake in a subsidiary of property firm BPTP Ltd and is in talks with two potential buyers, one of which is BPTP's controlling owner, the sources said.

At $40 million, a sale would generate a return of about 2.5 times on the investment. Blackstone paid 1 billion rupees for the stake in March 2007, its website showed.

A deal could be announced later this week, one of the sources said.

Blackstone declined to comment, while BPTP did not respond to emails and phone calls seeking comment.

Blackstone, the world's largest private equity fund, is the most active private equity property investor in India and has spent about $500 million on about 20 million square feet of property assets over the past 18 months.

(Reporting by Indulal PM; Editing by Anand Basu)