Mumbai, May 6 (IANS): British entrepreneur Jason Unsworth, who has evinced interest in investing in the now grounded Jet Airways, has claimed that the lenders' consortium leader State Bank of India (SBI) has asked him to formally submit a bid for the airline.

Unsworth is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Atmosphere Intercontinental Airlines, a startup he founded four years ago.

An unverified Twitter account of Unsworth said that state-run SBI has confirmed that he can still submit a bid for the airline.

The development comes days after the British entrepreneur evinced interest in investing in Jet Airways.

Last month, Jet had advised the British entrepreneur to formally engage in the matter through the ongoing bidding process.

The airline revealed its advice to Unsworth after domestic stock exchanges sought clarification from the temporarily grounded airline regarding a report which cited a British entrepreneur's offer to take control of the cash-strapped airline.

In its reply, Jet Airways had said: "Please note that an unsolicited e-mail communication was received by the company...and the sender has been advised to formally engage with SBI Caps Ltd, which is leading the bidding process under the resolution plan initiated by the consortium of domestic lenders led by the State Bank of India."

At present, the domestic lenders of the temporarily grounded airline have called for binding bids from potential investors by May 10 to sell a sizeable stake in the company.