India's real estate firms are seeking share sales to settle debt and meet working capital needs as valuations improve, but the funds won't be enough to salvage them if sales don't pick up, say industry watchers.

Since the start of 2009, almost $1.7bn rupees has been raised by home builders, according to Thomson Reuters data, while up to $2 billion more has been called for by realtors via share sales, especially qualified institutional placements.

'It is an over-leveraged market...the overall market is too huge. This (money) is nothing. It's small peanuts. It won't suffice,' Pankaj Kapoor, founder of Liases Foras Real Estate Rating & Research, said.

Times of India