"We will finalise the deal for $150 million (about Rs805 crore) over the next six to eight weeks, and then, we might look for another round of fund-raising from banks," a Jet official told ET.

The ECB would give the airline access to cheaper foreign currency loans at 3% (plus libor), as the government guidelines rule out external commercial borrowings beyond this interest rate.

In 2012, the government allowed Indian airline companies to borrow up to $1 billion in working capital loans as external commercial borrowings — a move that allowed the cash-strapped sector to access some easy money, which, till then, was available only to infrastructure companies. The ECB limit, for each airline, was capped at $300 million, which Jet wants to avail of now.

Jet was the first airline to seek an exemption to the above rule in 2011, when it sought permission from banking regulator RBI to allow it to convert its high-cost rupee loans to dollar loans, a move that made sense for the airline as it has nearly 60% of its revenues in dollar denominations.The air line will approach this fund-raising in two tranches. According to a company official, in the first tranche, $150 million will be facilitated by its new strategic partner Etihad through its own banking circles and the remaining, $150 million will be raised by Jet through other banking partners.

The loans will be against Jet's assets and Etihad won't give any guarantees for these loans, explained the official. But Etihad will merely help the airline find lenders for the fund-raising exercise.

Jet Airways is looking to strengthen its balance sheet through the Etihad deal, as the fund from the stake sale will help the airline pare its debt, which now stands at $2.16 billion (December 2012).