Satyam has been struggling for survival since the company said in January it had overstated its profits for years and falsified assets in India's biggest corporate scandal. It began a bidding process on Monday to sell a majority stake in itself.

Satyam's market value has plunged to $734 million from $7 billion last May. The company's government-appointed board is keen to bring in an investor to restore confidence among its 50,000 staff and customers, who include General Electric.

India's top engineering firm, Larsen & Toubro, which controls about 12 per cent of Satyam, will put in an expression of interest, as will diversified Spice Group.

Analysts say buying Satyam, India's fourth-biggest software services exporter, would give access to a profitable company with a cash balance of about $1 billion, a good set of clients and a well-trained workforce.

Capgemini said last month it aimed to double its own staff in India to 40,000 by 2010 as it sees a strong increase in outsourcing this year. It has frozen hiring in parts of Europe.

IBM had also been seen as a front-runner to buy Satyam but two sources familiar with the situation said this week that IBM had not flown a team to India, as had been reported, and was unlikely to be interested in bidding.