It’s back — rumours of Larsen & Toubro’s information technology (IT) subsidiary L&T Infotech being on the block.

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Friday’s grapevine was the engineering and construction major’s tech arm is being eyed by global IT services players such as Fujitsu and Capgemini, with no one having any idea of the value or the terms of endearment.

Jayanthi Sethuraman, head - marketing & alliance - Fujitsu India, refused to comment when DNA called, but, to tantalise, did not deny outright.

“We don’t have further information (on Fujitsu’s bid tobuy stake in L&T Infotech). Our MD (managing director of Indian operations) will give an official comment on Monday,” she said.

“There is no fact” in the report, Etsuro Yamada, a company spokesman, told Bloomberg.

“We do not comment on market speculations and rumours,” a Capgemini spokeswoman in India told Dow Jones Newswires.Net-net, shares of the mothership L&T surged 3.71% — a gain of Rs3,044 crore in market cap, which touched Rs85,162 crore.

A senior L&T official, who did not want to be named, said the company was not looking to offload.

“Why would we want to divest our IT business when it is growing at over 30% and reached a turnover of $500 million last fiscal. Also, unlike other businesses from which we have exited, IT has been beneficial to our in-house companies,” he said.

L&T moved out tractor business in 2005 by selling stake to American joint venture partner John Deree. Similarly, the engineering, technology and construction major hived off its cement arm to exit non-core business.

The L&T official said IT was like a “pet animal in the group required by every business.”

In the past, the tech services firm has tried to scale up its operations by unsuccessfully bidding for rivals like Satyam Computer and Patni. It has also reportedly attempted to acquire the EXL services. Capgemini officials were not available for comment. Till it happens…