Parsvnath to raise more than $167.5 million by divesting land assets

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Parsvnath Developers Ltd expects to raise more than 10 billion rupees ($167.5 million) over the next 18 months through the sale or joint development of its land assets in southern and western India, the company's chairman said.

"If we get a good price we will exit, otherwise we can enter into a joint venture with a local developer," Pradeep Jain told Reuters on Tuesday.

Parsvnath, which counts JPMorgan and U.S.-based private equity firm Red Fort Capital among its investors, is planning to divest land in cities including Hyderabad, Chennai, Kochi, Goa and Mysore and concentrate on its home market of northern India.

The company expects to reduce net debt to below 5 billion rupees by the end of March 2016, from 13 billion rupees as on March 31, 2014 through its divestment plan, Jain said.

Parsvnath, which was valued by the market at about $238 million at Monday's close, has 70 million square feet of projects under development in Delhi and surrounding areas, most of which are homes.

(Reporting by Aditi Shah; Editing by Sunil Nair)