New Delhi, Feb 21 (UNI) Manikchand group, owner of Oxyrich brand of bottled water, is looking at acquisitions in India and abroad to expand its water business and has set aside Rs 400-500 crore over the next 3-5 years for expansion.

The company is in talks with the 38-year-old Parle Bisleri for a possible take over. ''We are interested in taking over the Bisleri brand and another national brand to strenghten our position in the bottled water market,'' Group Chairman Rasiklal Dhariwal told reporters here.

He said that if the required infrastructure is available in the companies, Manikchand was ready to acquire them.

Since 2002, the company has invested over Rs 100 crore in the Rs 1,800 crore bottled water business.

The company is also in talks with the UAE-based Manafi to develop a technology tie-up to sell its brand in the markets there.

In addition, it has also applied for registration in the US, the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Holland and Italy.

The company will set up a Rs two crore plant in Lucknow on a franchise basis in the next 4-5 months with a capacity of 25,000 bottles per day.

Its Uttaranchal plant is running at a capacity of 50,000 litres per day while the Pune plant has a capacity of two lakh liters a day which will be increased by one lakh litres per day, said Mr Dhariwal.

The Oxyrich brand which is a leader in Mumbai has total sales of 2.75 billion bottles at present.

Oxyrich currently has franchise plants in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Haridwar, Aurangabad and Kolhapur. The combined capacity of these plants is over 2.75 billion litres per year.

The company is also planning to expand its tea business in other parts of the country from Gujarat and Maharashtra.

UNI