UPDATE 1-Indian Hotels extends closing date of rights issue

(Adds company comment, shares)

MUMBAI, April 10 (Reuters) - Indian Hotels Co Ltd (IHTL.BO), the country's top hotels operator, has extended the close of a rights issue of shares by nine days and pushed the exercise of warrants to next year because of volatile markets.

The issue of 120.6 million shares to raise 8.44 billion rupees ($210 million) was scheduled to close on April 15 but will now close on April 24, the company said on Thursday.

The offering at 70 rupees a share by the Tata Group company, which owns the Taj chain of luxury hotels, had opened on March 14. Shares in Indian Hotels were down 1 percent at 110.50 rupees at 0943 GMT in a Mumbai market that was down 0.7 percent.

The lead manager to the issue is JM Financial Consultants.

The exercise period for an issue of warrants to raise 6 billion rupees has also been revised to begin from Sept. 1, 2009 instead of Sept. 1, 2008, it said.

"The warrant exercise period was fixed in January, but since then the market has turned," a spokesman for Indian Hotels said.

"We wanted to give shareholders a better value for their investments and give those shareholders who did not participate, an opportunity to reconsider their decision," he said.

India's benchmark index .BSESN has lost nearly 23 percent since the start of the year, making it one of the worst performers in Asia.

Volatile market conditions have seen top private carrier Jet Airways Ltd (JET.BO) delay its rights issue of $400 million. It now expects to launch the issue by end-June. ($1=39.9 rupees) (Reporting by Rina Chandran; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)