REDIFF.COM said on Thursday that it has enough cash in hand to enable it to sustain operations for several years. Its Chairman, Mr. Ajit Balakrishnan, told Reuters from New York that the firm would be able to sustain itself as it was armed with $64 millions in cash.

"We have a current cash burn rate roughly in the order of $1 million a month. I think the cash in our balance sheet is sufficient to last us for several years."

The first quarter results announced by Rediff.com earlier this week showed that the firm was on track to boost revenues and reduce its losses in the future, he added.

"One of the most important parts of our results is that our revenues have jumped and losses have declined. That is our important selling point.

Rediff's US listing gives it the opportunity to offer stock options and it is planning a series of acquisitions to maintain its leading position in the domestic market.

It registered 109 million page views in June, ahead of the 80 million page views of diversified Indian Internet firm and Internet service provider, Satyam Infoway Ltd.

The site is also planning a series of acquistions to maintain its leading position in the domestic market, Mr. Balakrishnan said.

"We are looking to acquire one firm in the US which is a Web site with strong content offering and communities. The acquisition will give us a good management team in the US and help us grow internationally." Rediff is likely to complete the acquisition in the current quarter.

Analysts expect the recent launch of local portals of global leaders Yahoo! Inc and Alta Vista to intensify the battle to attract eyeballs in a crowded Indian market.

Mr. Balakrishnan said that the mushrooming of local portals, many of which could be finding the going tough as advertising revenues and e-commerce run short of expectations, presented Rediff with investment opportunities.

"Many of them have some degrees of questions attached to future funding. There are several segments of vortals that we would be aiming for."