UPDATE1-Indian state firms to extend rice import bid tenders

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NEW DELHI, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Three of India's state-run trading firms have extended the validity of bids received for their import tenders totalling 30,000 tonnes, trade and government sources said on Thursday.

State Trading Corp of India (STC) (STCI.BO: Quote, Profile, Research), MMTC Ltd (MMTC.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) and PEC Ltd on Monday received 18 bids, mostly from international trading firms, including Louis Dreyfus and Ameropa.

The bids, which ranged from $373 to $599 per tonne, were valid until Thursday.

"We have extended the bids until Nov. 17," a trade ministry official, who did not wish to be identified as he is not authorised to talk to the press, told Reuters.

Confirming the move, another government official, who is directly involved in the process, said the three firms were in the process of informing the suppliers.

"We have been informed of the government decision to extend the deadline," a Mumbai-based trader with the Indian arm of a global trading firm, said.

MMTC Chairman and Managing Director Sanjiv Batra on Wednesday said his firm was unlikely to place an order due to high prices quoted in the bids. See [ID:nBOM474537]

The decision by the world's largest rice importer Philippines to buy 600,000 tonnes of the grain in December, its largest ever single buy, has pushed prices up. See [ID:nMAN394827] (Reporting by Ratnajyoti Dutta and Mayank Bhardwaj; Editing by Malini Menon)