A consortium of Indian conglomerate Hinduja Group, Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International), and AdiGro Group is nearing a bid to save Jet Airways (JAI, Mumbai International), India Today has reported.

Sources confirmed that the consortium is considering submitting a binding bid by the end of May but will first hold a crucial meeting to decide on the future course of action on May 23. The airline founder, ex-Chairman, and previous owner Naresh Goyal has also offered to join the consortium. Previously, Etihad Airways insisted on Goyal's ousting and demanded he relinquished all executive functions in Jet Airways. It is not clear if the Emirati carrier will be willing to work with Goyal on the new rescue package.

The potential investors are reportedly asking the creditors to take a sizeable haircut from the INR120 billion rupee (USD1.7 billion) total debt accumulated by Jet Airways.

Meanwhile, the grounded airline's lenders led by State Bank of India are considering paying INR2 billion rupees (USD28.7 million) to EXIM Bank (United States of America) to release six B777-300(ER)s previously operated by Jet Airways and financed by the US institution.

"A small amount of loans from the US Exim are pending repayment. If we pay off these loans, the planes which are valued much more than the amount due, will become assets for the airline," a source told The Economic Times.