U.S.-based outsourcer iGate Corp's bid for fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services Ltd will be well short of the current market price, its chief executive told a television channel on Monday.

By 0615 GMT, Satyam shares were trading 0.4 percent lower at 45.30 rupees (88 cents) in line with the broader Mumbai market <.BSESN>.

iGate is among a clutch of firms that have expressed interest in buying Satyam, which has been battling for survival since its founder and Chairman Ramalinga Raju quit on January 7 saying profits had been overstated for years and assets falsified.

New York-listed Satyam said on Friday that Indian and international firms, including private equity companies, had registered to bid for a controlling stake in the company.

Indian engineering firm Larsen & Toubro , IT services firm Tech Mahindra and diversified Spice Group are among those registered as potential bidders.

Murthy said bidding would be a tough task due to the uncertainty about Satyam's finances and liabilities arising from the class action lawsuits filed in the United States on behalf of Satyam's shareholders there.

I think it's a big struggle for any public company to bid for this company, he told the television channel.

Therefore, while I think now there are multiple players in the fray I do believe that net, net the number of players is going to come down dramatically very, very soon.

Satyam said on Friday it had received an adequate response but did not name or number the bidders.

Two investment banking sources told Reuters some eight potential suitors had registered to bid for a 51 percent stake.

iGate had said on Friday it wanted to see the latest financial statements and an update on Satyam's liabilities before it decided to make a formal bid.

($1=51.6 rupees)

(Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee and Narayanan Somasundaram; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)

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