Indian law firm Singh & Associates is to launch four international offices in New York, Singapore, London and Hong Kong by the end of 2014 in a bid to tap an anticipated surge in inbound investment deals on the subcontinent.

The New Delhi headquartered outfit, whose international footprint is currently limited to an alliance with China's Guangda Law Firm in Beijing and a small satellite office in New York, wants to have a fully functional base in each of the jurisdictions by the end of next year, with a minimum of two lawyers located at each.

The nine-partner firm was last month issued a licence to establish a representative office in Singapore, which has become an increasingly popular launchpad for multi-nationals doing business in India.

Principal associate and head of the firm's Bangalore office Radjutt Singh has been appointed to head up the new base, along with one other associate, who is yet to be nominated.

The representative office is expected to open in the third week of August, though a property lease is still being finalised.

Currently, nearly 80% of the firm's revenues come from work outside of India, with Singapore and China business accounting for around 8% of overall income since the China alliance was agreed last year.

"Singapore was always a natural next step, it is very important for the whole of Asia," said founding partner of the firm, Manoj Singh.

"To apply to practice as a foreign law firm [in Singapore], is the next stage, which we are planning.

"Then we have to move to other jurisdictions. So Hong Kong, definitely London, and we want to set up a New York office.

"These ambitions are very important for us, we want to complete this whole process by the end of 2014. We would like to have functional offices.

"We want to help the foreign companies coming into India with starting their business and opening their offices. Hong Kong is equally important for us, if you look at the geographical location, it is next to a very important area for telecommunications hubs in China."

The firm is in the process of applying for a licence in the US allowing it to practice as a foreign law firm, and will target London next, he said.

The New York branch is currently staffed by rotating a selection of India-based lawyers to the office on a monthly basis, but the plan is to have at least two lawyers in each international centre as a starting point.

The focus will be on corporate and arbitration work.

"Indian inbound investment has to grow from here. I personally think a lot of companies are waiting at the moment for the general election due in nine months' time.

"But everything has to be work and client driven. We will revise our strategy after six months [in each office] depending on how it is going."

Singh & Associates is a full service law firm, with 125 staff including lawyers, support workers and accountants.

Its domestic offices include Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad; in addition to associate branches in Patna, Ranchi and Kolkata.