India IT boss quits over scandal

The boss of Satyam, India's fourth-biggest software firm, has resigned after revealing financial irregularities in the firm's accounts.

Chairman Ramalinga Raju apologised and said "the gap in the balance sheet has arisen purely on account of inflated profits" during several years.

He said he was subjecting himself to the laws of the land and would "face the consequences".

India's benchmark index fell nearly 4% on the news, as Satyam stock shed 60%.

In a letter to the board of directors, Mr Raju said that neither he nor the managing director took any money from the company and did not benefit in financial terms following the "inflated results".

The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi says analysts see this as one of the worst crises to have hit corporate India, at a time when it was hoping to attract foreign investors looking for quick gains in emerging markets.

Our correspondent says many fear that the international community will now take a harder look at Indian companies and think twice about placing their money there.

Jigar Shah, senior vice-president at Kim Eng Securities, said: "I think there is no fortune for this stock. The case for India is similar to what happened to Enron in the US."

Satyam specialises in business software and benefited from the IT outsourcing boom.