London: British construction and maintenance giant John Laing is to open its first India office in order to beef up its presence in Asia.

It has appointed three new senior posts in India and Singapore as part of the effort.

The India office will be set up at Gurgaon near Delhi and headed by Peter Jones, who has been charged with building a team and securing opportunities on the subcontinent.

Jones will be capitalising on the efforts John Laing has made in India over the past 18 months and establish a presence on Indian soil. An Indian subsidiary was incorporated in India on Feb 6.

The company will initially concentrate on bidding in the National Highways Authority of India's build operate transfer (BOT) Roads Programme, but Jones' role will also include establishing close business relationships with local partners and looking ahead to other sectors and opportunities.

Jones, a civil engineer with qualifications in economics and sustainable business, was the group director for Corporate Social Responsibility.

"The Indian and Asia Pacific markets provide the opportunity to fuel the growth of the business and the new offices will be tasked with accessing a pipeline of projects with local partners over the coming years," the company said.

The new Asia team will be led by Gary Lucas who will be based in Singapore. Lucas has been with the company for 27 years and, for the past two years, led John Laing's expansion into new international markets by establishing offices and securing projects in both Canada and central Europe.

Also based in Singapore, Anthony Phillips has been appointed senior investment manager for Asia Pacific and will take responsibility for this market.

Phillips will focus upon the identification and pursuit of infrastructure investment opportunities in the region. Anthony's role includes establishing partnership agreements with local and international contractors for upcoming public private partnership (PPP) projects as well as examining potential secondary market acquisitions.