Bangalore: Six Indian companies are currently looking at listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), which saw 32 per cent more Indian shares and depository receipts being traded on its markets in 2002 compared to the same period in 2001.

Brad Douglas, director in the London capital markets group of the PricewaterhouseCoopers UK firm, said that of the six, four are based in Bangalore, including three tech companies and two in Mumbai.

Douglas was speaking to reporters at Bangalore on September 18, along with Deborah Medley-Foye, country manager-India, LSE, who said during the period January-August 2002 there were 631.7 million Indian shares and depository receipts traded, compared with 480.2 million during January-August 2001.

"There is a great amount of interest in India and Indian companies in London. Indian companies can take advantage of this opportunity, it is a strong sign of the growing investor interest for Indian companies in London," she said.

There are 18 Indian companies listed in London, including big names such as Reliance, Ranbaxy and VSNL.

LSE held at Bangalore on September 18 "The London Advantage", presenting its markets to Indian technology and healthcare companies, where representatives from ICICI Securities, Bank of New York, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Rawford Bayley & Co spoke.

LSE wooed Indian companies, urging them to get listed in techMARK, LSE's international market for technology companies, and techMARK mediscience for healthcare companies.

techMARK and techMARK mediscience, started for domestic market, was internationalised in 2001 for Israel, Japan and India, Medley-Foye said.

PTI