* H1 IPO volume jumps nearly 80 pct versus same period last year
* IPO volume seen at $7 bln in 2016, up from $2.2 bln last year
* Possible listing candidates include Vodafone India, ICICI Pru
By Devidutta Tripathy and Sumeet Chatterjee
MUMBAI/HONG KONG, July 4 (Reuters) - A surge in first-half India IPO activity is likely to pale in comparison to the second half which could see over $6 billion in deals, banking sources said, with investors encouraged by a pick-up in economic growth and unfazed by Britain's vote to leave the European Union.
Interest in Indian listings was strong even in the immediate wake of the British decision. Last week staffing firm Quess Corp QUEC.NS saw its $60 million IPO oversubscribed 144 times while shares in city gas distributor Mahanagar Gas MGAS.NS jumped 30 percent in their market debut on Friday. & Toubro Ltd LART.NS , whose software services unit, L&T Infotech, announced on Monday the launch of an $183 million IPO on July 11, was also upbeat.
"The opportunity for India now is great. If we get our acts together, post Brexit when everything looks dark, India looks very bright," R. Shankar Raman, chief financial officer at the industrial conglomerate told reporters.
First-half IPO activity jumped nearly 80 percent to $1.04 billion, Thomson Reuters data showed on Monday, with the market on track for its best year in six. The potential for around $7 billion in IPO deals this year contrasts with $2.2 billion in 2015.
The January-June period this year also marked the highest volume in Indian IPOs for a first-half period since 2010, the data showed.
Key deals will include the India unit of British telecoms group Vodafone VOD.L which is planning an offering worth as much as $2.5 billion and ICICI Prudential (LON:PRU) Life Insurance Co Ltd's up to $1 billion listing.
"You'll see a pretty busy calendar," said Subhrajit Roy, head of equity capital markets origination at local firm Kotak Investment Banking, adding that there had been no apparent loss of appetite from foreign institutional investors.
The bulk of the IPOs in the pipeline are from the finance, utility and communications sectors, which are expected to benefit as rising incomes boost consumer spending in Asia's third-largest economy.
The Vodafone IPO, which sources have said is expected to be filed in August, will be the first primary share sale by an Indian cellphone carrier in nine years after Idea Cellular 's IDEA.NS 2007 listing.
ICICI Prudential Life's offering, which sources say is set to hit the market in the December quarter, will be the Indian insurance sector's first-ever IPO. ($1 = 67.2400 Indian rupees)