DLF Ltd, India's biggest developer, posted a third quarter profit of 21.45 billion rupees (US$544 million) on growing demand for houses, offices and hotels in Asia's third largest economy.

Sales at the company and its units totaled 36 billion rupees in the three months to December 31, compared with 33.5 billion rupees in the second quarter, the New Delhi-based DLF said yesterday in a statement to the National Stock Exchange, Bloomberg News reported. The company, which raised US$2.2 billion in June in what was then India's biggest initial share sale, did not give previous year figures.

The offering made DLF Chairman Kushal Pal Singh the world's richest developer with a fortune of US$35 billion, according to Forbes. Indian developers are borrowing to meet increasing demand for homes and other properties after the economy grew at an average of 8.6 percent in the past four years.

"Genuine demand for houses still remains high," said A. Balasubramaniam, who manages US$8.6 billion at Birla Sun Life Asset Management in Mumbai.