Mr Adelson, in Macau to launch the Four Seasons hotel and celebrate the first anniversary of the opening of the giant Venetian casino-resort, said he had met the Indian trade and tourism ministers before heading here.

'You could have the equivalent of Las Vegas. If your government wants to invite us there, we would be happy to commit 12-14 billion US dollars (S$17-20 million),' he told one Indian reporter.

'We would like to build a Cotai Strip in India that would not affect Macau whatsoever. As a matter of fact, the market in India with 1.1 billion people would justify more than one Cotai Strip' he told reporters.

The Cotai Strip is an area of reclaimed land in the former Portuguese colony that aims to recreate the Las Vegas Strip.

Gaming revenues in the booming southern Chinese city topped 10 billion dollars for the first time in 2007, well ahead of the Las Vegas Strip. -- AFP