Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was 188.37 points, or 1.17%, to 16252.27.

On BSE, 2.22 lakh shares were traded in the counter as against an average daily volume of 1.93 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 42.45 and a low of Rs 40.10 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 47.60 on 8 June 2009 and a 52-week low of Rs 13.10 on 9 March 2009.

The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 5 November 2009, falling 7.08% as compared to the Sensex 4.76% fall. It underperformed the market in past one quarter, sliding 1.53% as against 1.01% rise in the Sensex.

The mid-cap state-run telecoms equipment maker has an equity capital of Rs 288 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

According to reports, ITI intends to be a minority partner in the proposed joint ventures with a 26% stake according to the bid proposals.

Intel is reportedly interested in making the hardware and consumer premise equipment around WiMAX technology, which provides for wireless transmission of data up to 75 megabytes per second.

Though interested parties have been asked to participate before 29 January 2010, the telecoms ministry is holding a pre-bid conference before selecting them.

Other global players that have reportedly showed interest include Huawei, Alcatel-Lucent, Samsung and Hitachi.

In June this year, the government had announced its intention to write off the Rs 2,820-crore accumulated losses by ITI. DoT had earlier proposed to identify new areas of growth including foraying into new technology areas, to get the PSU up and running.

ITI reported a net loss of Rs 78.10 crore in Q2 September 2009 compared with a net loss of Rs 154.88 crore in Q2 September 2008. Sales spurted 156% to Rs 795.62 crore in Q2 September 2009 over Q2 September 2008.

ITI manufactures a wide-range of equipments, including electronic switching, transmission equipment, access products, V-sat equipment and telephone instruments.