Lenders led by State Bank of India (NSEI:SBIN) have sought approval from the Reserve Bank of India to sell the INR 180.00 billion debt of realty company Jaiprakash Associates Limited (BSE:532532) (JAL) to the National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (NARCL), said people with knowledge of the matter. If the RBI approves the deal, it will become NARCL's largest acquisition of the debt of a single company, with an offer of INR 100.00 billion to the lenders. RBI's approval is a condition precedent set by NARCL to acquire JAL's loans, one of the people said.

Lenders are seeking approval because in 2017, soon after the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) was enacted, the RBI directed banks to refer 28 companies, including JAL, for debt resolution under the Act. The company was on the second list of 28 accounts referred by the RBI for resolution under the IBC. Although banks filed an application with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to initiate the debt resolution process for JAL around the same time, the company has not yet been admitted for the process due to a series of litigations.

In some companies among the 28 accounts referred by the RBI, such as Jayswal Neco and Jai Balaji, lenders have sold the debt to private asset reconstruction companies without seeking RBI's approval. However, lenders say JAL has a complex structure with several large businesses in one company. Thus, NARCL wants the central bank's clearance for the acquisition to avoid getting caught in any regulatory crossfire, the people said.

If lenders sell debt to NARCL, the ARC will gain control of the cement division, the core land that houses the Buddh International Race Circuit that hosted the F1 Grand Prix more than a decade ago, five five-star hotel properties and a construction business.