Indian shares fall 1.4 pct; Reliance, ONGC gain

* Worries about global economy weigh on markets worldwide

* Drop in main index less than other major Asian indexes

* ICICI Bank, Infosys, ITC, L&T among major losers
(Updates to late morning)

MUMBAI, June 23 (Reuters) - Indian shares fell 1.4 percent
on Tuesday on global economic worries, led by private-sector
lender ICICI Bank (ICBK.BO), outsourcer Infosys Technologies
(INFY.BO) and cigarette maker ITC Ltd (ITC.BO).

The drop was, however, less than in other Asian markets
thanks to gains in energy giant Reliance Industries (RELI.BO)
and state-run explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC.BO).

Reliance, which has the most weight in the benchmark index,
rose 1 percent to 1,971 rupees after falling 17.2 percent since
last Monday when it received an unfavourable court ruling on
gas supplies. [ID:nBOM433343]

Power utility NTPC Ltd (NTPC.BO) is open to buying
Reliance's gas at $4.2 per million metric British thermal unit
(mmBtu) except for the plants under dispute in the court, its
head said on Tuesday. The company's stock rose 1.3 percent to
193.50 rupees. [ID:nBMA003195]

Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC.BO) gained 1.3 percent to
1,007 rupees after the Economic Times said the state-run
explorer struck oil and gas in three new blocks. One of these,
a gas find off the eastern coast, could prove as rich as
Reliance's Krishna Godavari block, popularly known as D-6, it
said. [ID:nBOM183106]

By 11:40 a.m. (0610 GMT), the 30-share BSE index .BSESN
was down 1.4 percent at 14,121.22 points, with 23 stocks
declining, after falling as much as 2.2 percent.

"There is not much scope for the market to fall much more,"
said Amitabh Chakraborty, president of equities at Religare
Securities. "A lot of the stocks like Reliance have been
oversold over the past week."

The benchmark index had dropped 7.4 percent in the previous
eight sessions as investors took profits on a 14-week, 83
percent rally that was halted last week.

Expectations the government would push reforms, such as
relaxation of foreign investment rules in the insurance and
pension sectors and stake sales in state-run firms, when it
announces the budget on July 6 should provide support.

Other Asian indexes fell steeply. Japan's Nikkei .N225
was down 2.8 percent, while MSCI's measure of other Asian
markets .MSCIAPJ slid 3.3 percent.

U.S. stocks suffered their worst one-day loss in two months
on Monday in a broad-based sell-off, as investors reconsidered
the health of the economy.

ICICI Bank fell 5.2 percent to 689.15 rupees, while ITC
slid 3.6 percent to 195.50 rupees.

No. 2 outsourcer Infosys dropped 2.1 percent to 1,728.10
rupees, while engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro
(LART.BO) eased 3.7 percent to 1,453.85 rupees.

In the broader market, losers led gainers by more than 3 to
1 to on relatively weak volume of 122 million shares.

The 50-share NSE index fell 1.6 percent to
4,169.15.

MAIN TOP 3 BY VOLUME

* Suzlon Energy (SUZL.BO) on 6.2 million shares

* IFCI (IFCI.BO) on 5.9 million shares

* Unitech (UNTE.BO) on 4.9 million shares

STOCKS ON THE MOVE

* Great Offshore Ltd (GOFS.BO) rose 9.2 percent to 418.55
rupees after shipbuilder ABG Shipyard (ABGS.BO) offered to buy
a stake in the firm at 375 rupees per share, countering a bid
of 344 rupees by rival Bharati Shipyard (BHAR.BO).

* Non-ferrous metals producer Sterlite Industries (STRL.BO)
fell 5.4 percent to 562 rupees as copper prices dropped on
concerns about the global economy and slowing demand.
[ID:nMAN144532]

FACTORS TO WATCH
* For technical analysis double click on www.reutersindia.net
* Indian rupee at 5-week low as Asian stocks fall
[INR/]
* Indian bond yields down tracing U.S. yields, oil
[IN/]
* Yen rises broadly as investors cut riskier bets
[FRX/]
* Oil falls towards $69, bearish US gasoline mkt weighs [O/R]
* Asia stocks fall, yen rises on econ doubts [MKTS/GLOB]
* S&P turns negative for year in broad sell-off

[.N] * For closing rates of Indian ADRs

INADR (Reporting by Pratish Narayanan; Editing by
Ranjit Gangadharan)