British water supplier Severn Trent said on Friday it would raise 1 billion pounds ($1.2 billion) in new equity, including 500 million pounds from Qatar's sovereign wealth fund.

The investment comes at a time the water industry in England and Wales, which was privatised in 1989, has come under intense scrutiny over sewage releases that have polluted rivers and beaches and shaken public confidence in the sector.

The water firm also said it planned 12.9 billion pounds in total expenditure across the next five-year regulatory period, and the investment programme is expected to create 7,000 jobs across central England.

The equity increase is expected to represent about 19% of the firm's issued share capital.

Qatar is currently the third biggest shareholder in Seven Trent with a 4.6% stake, according to LSEG data.

The London-listed firm said it had made a good start to the financial year and it remained on track to deliver at least 50 million pounds in customer outcome delivery incentives - a performance gauge used by regulator Ofwat - this year.

(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil and Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil and Mark Potter)