Satyam hopes the sale of its majority stake will be completed before the Indian general election which starts in mid-April.

The company has a shortlist of bidders for its business but they are likely to have to bid blind for the firm - they will be given access to Satyam's books, or rather a "data room", but the full restatement of the accounts will take longer.

Spice Group and iGate have reportedly pulled out of the race leaving Larsen & Toubro and Tech Mahindra. The five other bidders are private equity companies or strategic investors, the FT reports. W L Ross is one of these according to Indian reports.

Satyam has also written to the Securities and Exchange Commission outlining how the bid process will work.

Bidders will be expected to conduct due diligence through access to a data room rather than official accounts. ®

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