DUBAI, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Indian low-cost airline Akasa Air placed an order for 72 Boeing 737 MAX jets, valued at nearly $9 billion at list prices, in a move that might help the U.S. planemaker regain lost ground in one of the world's most promising markets.

The orders by Akasa, which is backed by billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, are incremental, a Boeing executive said on Tuesday.

Last month, SNV Aviation, which owns Akasa Air, said it expected to start flying next year after getting initial clearance from the civil aviation ministry to launch.

Reuters reported in September that Boeing was close to winning an order for some 70 to 100 737 MAX jets from Akasa, pending separate talks on a long-term engine service deal.

India's air safety regulator in August allowed the country's airlines to fly the MAX jet, ending its nearly two-and-a-half-years of regulatory grounding after two fatal crashes in five months killed 346 people.

Jhunjhunwala, known as "India's Warren Buffett", has teamed up with former chief executives of IndiGo, the country's biggest carrier, and Jet Airways to tap into demand for domestic air travel, which is nearing pre-pandemic levels as the country recovers from a devastating outbreak earlier this year.

Boeing dominates India's widebody market of 51 planes but fare wars and high costs have led to casualties among full-service carriers, including Kingfisher Airlines in 2012 and Jet Airways in 2019, making low cost carriers and Airbus even more dominant.

Boeing's share of India's 570 narrowbody planes fell to 18% from 35% after Jet's collapse in 2018, data from consultancy CAPA India shows. Currently, SpiceJet is Boeing's biggest and only customer for the MAX planes in the country. (Reporting by Jamie Freed in Sydney and Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)