BENGALURU - Indian shares fell on Thursday, a day after the government revamped its cabinet amid fierce criticism of its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, while investors prepared for the first-quarter earnings season with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) set to report its results later in the day.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index was down 0.29% at 15,833.90 by 0508 GMT, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex slipped 0.26% to 52,916.30.

"With earnings season kicking in, markets might get a sense of direction since most positive triggers had already been factored in," said Gaurav Garg, head of research at CapitalVia Global Research in Indore.

"IT companies are expected to announce robust earnings but we might see some correction if there are any shortfalls in their results as expectations from the sector are very high."

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday appointed new federal ministers for health, IT and oil as part of a reshuffle. 

Shares of Zomato's majority owner Info Edge (India) Ltd rose about 2.8%. The food delivery startup will price its 93.75 billion rupees ($1.25 billion) initial public offering (IPO) at 72 to 76 rupees per share, with the issue set to open for subscription from July 14 to 16.

Investors' focus is on software services heavyweight TCS' June-quarter earnings. Analysts anticipate a rise in its first-quarter profit as the COVID-19 crisis ramped up demand for its digital services.

Macrotech Developers jumped 3.7% after the company reported a surge of 88% in its first quarter pre-sales. The real estate firm also expects to meet previously announced pre-sales forecast.

Fourteen banks in the country, including top lender State Bank of India , were fined between 50 million and 200 million rupees on Wednesday by the Indian central bank. The Nifty Bank index was down 0.23% at 0506 GMT.

($1 = 74.7910 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Shivani Singh in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V) ((ShivaniSingh1@thomsonreuters.com; +91 89 6969 2349))