Sterlite plans $1.6 bln syndicated loan - sources

MUMBAI, July 16 (Reuters) - Sterlite Industries (STRL.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) (SLT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), a unit of India-focused mining group Vedanta Resources (VED.L: Quote, Profile, Research), plans to raise up to 70 billion rupees ($1.6 billion) in a syndicated loan, two banking sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.

The loan is the biggest issue in the rupee-denominated market so far in 2008.

SBI Capital Markets, IDBI Bank (IDBI.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) and Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE) are the bankers to the deal, the sources said. ($1=43.1 rupees) (Reporting by Saikat Chatterjee and Narayanan Somasundaram; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)