Aug 12 (Reuters) - Bank of America ( BAC ) will acquire up

to 49.9% stake in Jio Credit, a unit of Jio Financial Services

, for as much as 182.68 billion rupees ($1.92 billion),

the companies said on Wednesday.

The U.S. lender will be a joint venture partner in Jio

Financial's non-bank lending arm through a preferential

allotment of equity shares and warrants.

The transaction initially gives Bank of America ( BAC ) a 26.5%

stake, which can go up to 49.9% upon exercise of the warrants.

The deal is the latest large investment in India's financial

services sector, which include Japan's MUFG investment

in Shriram Finance and Dubai-based bank Emirates NBD's

60% stake in lender RBL Bank.

"The investment will allow BofA to expand its participation

in the rapidly growing Indian market .... while doing so with a

partner that has local expertise," the companies said in a

statement.

($1 = 95.3300 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nishit Navin in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun

Koyyur)