Mumbai, Jan. 12: The Satyam stock leapt over 44 per cent to close at Rs 34.40 on the Bombay Stock Exchange after a new government-appointed board took charge at the scandal-rocked software giant but leading counters such as the State Bank of India wilted because of their links with the snowballing crisis.

Shares of the SBI plummeted nearly 5 per cent to Rs 1,156.85 after the bank admitted it had an exposure of around Rs 500 crore to the Maytas twins — the two Ramalinga Raju-owned companies that many believe are at the centre of the raging scandal.

SBI chairman .P. Bhatt told reporters in Ahmedabad that the country’s largest bank had an exposure to the Maytas twins but not to the IT company itself.

“Our exposure in Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra, both fund and non-fund, is less than Rs 500 crore,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit. Bhatt said the bank had not given personal loans to Raju and his sons.

Earlier, reports had speculated that the SBI had an exposure of around Rs 200 crore to Satyam and that Ramalinga Raju had taken a personal loan from the bank.

The SBI stock fell on fears that the exposure to the Maytas twins could become non-performing assets. Unconfirmed reports said the State Bank of Hyderabad also had an exposure to Maytas.

Bhatt, however, said there was no problem with the Maytas accounts and that the exposure was collateralised and the accounts were regular. He further revealed that the bank was reviewing these accounts and sharing information with both the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India.

The Maytas Infra stock has continuously been hitting the lower circuit since the Satyam fraud came to light.

Investors have also been dumping shares of the Hyderabad-based companies. Scrips such as Nagarjuna Construction and Nagarjuna Fertilisers ended lower by 5.9 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively.

NYSE scare

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) will delist Satyam shares only if its average share price for 30 trading sessions goes below $1, according to PTI.

Around 10pm in India, Satyam was trading at $1.19, down 87.38 per cent on the NYSE. After opening at $1.04, shares of the Indian firm touched a low of $0.78 in the intra-day trade today.