Blackstone to put $1bln in India in 2 years-report

MUMBAI, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Private equity firm Blackstone Group (BX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is looking to invest more than $1 billion in India over the next two years, the Economic Times said on Friday, citing the firm's country head.

"We may make investments of $500-$600 million per year, and in two years may invest more than $1 billion dollars," Akhil Gupta, chairman of Blackstone India, told the paper.

"We are already much ahead of our target of $1 billion in five years and if we continue to find deals, then the allocation for India would also continue to increase," he was quoted as saying.

Blackstone, which recently paid $65 million for a reported 26 percent stake in Indian engineering firm MTAR Technologies, has said it had a huge pipeline of deals in India.

It has made a series of investments this year, including in apparel firm Gokaldas Exports, $150 million in Nagarjuna Construction Co Ltd (NGCN.BO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and $275 million in regional media firm Ushodaya Enterprises Ltd. (Reporting by Rina Chandran; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)