HOUSTON (Reuters) - India's largest privately owned oil and gas company Cairn India said it may invest in U.S. service and engineering companies as part of a $5 billion plan to grow output five-fold in the coming years, its chairman said on Tuesday. 

"I want to spend $5 billion on developing my project to get to 500,000 barrels per day production," billionaire Anil Agarwal told Reuters in an interview.

Cairn, part of Vedanta Limited, produces 100,000 bpd today. It plans to drill several deepwater exploration wells next year.

Agarwal, speaking during a visit to Houston where he attended the CERAWeek conference, said Cairn seeks to work with 7 or 8 technical partners and buy 5 or 6 drilling rigs for the exploration and development of the offshore project.

"We are looking to develop 500 to 600 new wells, we would like at least 20 rigs to work in our field," Agarwal said.

"I can invest in the engineering company, the rig company, because that will help me to explore in India better," he said.

"I'd love American companies to come join hands and take up this project."