MANILA, Philippines - Ayala-led Manila Water Co. Inc. and New Delhi-based Jindal Water Infrastructure Limited (JWIL) have agreed to jointly develop water businesses in India.

The firms will engage in water supply, wastewater and other environmental services in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra in India.

They will create a joint venture company which will carry out planning and development of the water projects under a pre-arranged budget.

"Through this partnership, Manila Water and JWIL seek to leverage on their key strengths and core competencies and eventually provide synergies in establishing a regional presence in India," Manila Water told the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday.

JWIL is part of the O P Jindal Group, one of India's largest business houses. It was formed as a service company to focus on designing sustainable and innovative solutions in water and wastewater management.

Manila Water, on the other hand, provides water services to more than 1 million households in the east zone of Metro Manila through more than 680,000 water service connections and 51,000 sewer service connections.

Overseas, Manila Water's portfolio includes projects in Tiripur, India and Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.