Mumbai: Mumbai's murky eastern waterfront has long been crammed with battered ferrys and rusty trawlers. Bobbing off the city's coast are a handful of sleek yachts, owned by an exclusive club of businessmen with a penchant for the sea.

The number of luxury vessels cruising off the city's shores is set to grow exponentially, say the organisers of Mumbai's first international boat show, that runs till Feb. 25.

Some 50 companies from the global leisure boating industry have gathered in Mumbai to lure the country's monied consumers away from their luxury cars and penthouse apartments, into the Arabian Sea.

"India is the last large boating market in the world that's untapped -- which is why the industry is here," says the show's organizer Sujay Chohan, who forecasts the Indian leisure boating business will grow to around 50 billion rupees over the next five years.

Leading industrialists like Vijay Mallya and Gautam Singhania already own super yachts, where they host some of the city's most raucous parties, and several businessmen are said to be eyeing the luxury vessels at the show.

The displays include dinghies, kayaks, water-scooters and yachts, as well as lifestyle apparel brands like Henri Lloyd that draw on the glamour of the high seas.

"We see great potential in this country," said Shigenori Suzuki, a marketing manager with Yamaha, which is hoping to expand its thriving water-scooter business in Goa to include high-speed fiberglass boats."

Despite the heightened interest around the show, several obstacles remain before India's leisure boating industry. The lack of marinas to dock boats is a serious impediment, as is the general lack of infrastructure to support a vibrant leisure boating culture.

Another issue is the prohibitive import duties -- over 35 percent -- that need to be paid on foreign boats.

"Yes, duties are high, and I don't know how one gets around it," said David Pyles, sales director for U.K.-based Princess Yachts International, whose vessels cost between 200,000 and 4 million pounds.