Zain, the pan-African and Middle Eastern mobile group, is looking at making acquisitions in India, the firm told Dow Jones Newswires this week. The Kuwaiti-based firm said it was considering investments in either Datacom or Loop, two of India’s new GSM operators that were awarded licenses last year. Zain said it had looked at both companies last year. “Whilst in 2008 Zain engaged in discussions with leading investment banks on [acquisition] opportunities in India, we were unable to conclude any transaction,” it said in an emailed statement, noting that it will “continue its evaluation of opportunities.”

If Zain were to make a deal in India it would be the latest in a long line of foreign operators to have recently entered the world’s second-largest mobile market. Other new entrants include Norway’s Telenor (via a 60 percent stake in Unitech Wireless), Japan’s NTT DoCoMo (26 percent stake in Tata Teleservices), UAE’s Etisalat (45 percent stake in Swan Telecom) and Bahrain’s Batelco (49 percent stake in S Tel). Zain provided no further details on its Indian plans. The report notes that Datacom’s majority shareholder, Videocon, is apparently unaware of any discussions, while Loop declined to comment. Zain’s acquisition drive is part of a wider strategy to establish itself as one of the world’s top ten mobile operators by 2011.