According to the Sunday Times, an 800-million pound refinancing loan for the Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) appears to be on the cards, given the "advanced talks" of the company with British ministers and a banking syndicate led by the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds TSB.

The talks have been somewhat slow since November 2008, with officials being overwhelmed by "the size and power of the vast Tata business empire."

In case the talks come through, the loan would help Tata - which struck a 1.15-billion pound JLR acquisition deal with Ford in June last year - to bring the company on stream and avert 15,000 lay-offs.

Citing sources familiar to the proceedings, the newspaper said that the materialization of the delicate stage talks largely depended on JLR's ability to provide satisfactory loan security. It clarified that though the British government might assure 75 percent repayment of a 340-million pound loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB); for the remaining part of the loan amount, JLR would have to raise its assets as security.

Although the loan received the EIB directors' approval last week, the funds cannot be extended to JLR till the time the conditions pertaining to the state endorsement have been met with. In principle, Tata is supposed to have consented to an additional 100-million pound investment together with the re-financing.