The race to acquire troubled housing finance firm DHFL is turning out to be a tight one between Oaktree Capital and the Piramal group as the US-based asset management company on Thursday raised its bid by Rs 1,700 crore.

Oaktree is now offering over Rs 38,300 crore. This is higher than its earlier tag of Rs 36,600 crore for the entire company.

It may be recalled that the Piramal group had also raised its offer for DHFL by Rs 1,700 crore recently. It had earlier proposed Rs 13,000 crore in upfront cash for its Rs 35,550- crore offer that included Rs 200 crore from the insurance stake sale and Rs 3,000 crore from the interest earned on the books of DHFL.

Sources said that Oaktree is now offering an upfront payment of over Rs 17,000 crore and over Rs 300 crore to the fixed deposit holders of DHFL. Close to Rs 21,000 crore will be paid in the form of non convertible debentures.

In the case of the Piramal offer, this stands at over Rs 19,000 crore.

The latest development came as the committee of creditors met on Thursday for a final evaluation of the three bids that were made by the Piramals, the Adani group and Oaktree Capital. The voting window will open for 15 days before the result is known.

The race has seen Oaktree writing to the committee of creditors seeking fair treatment in the evaluation of bids.

In a letter sent to the creditors, it maintained that throughout the process, it has been the subject of “sustained campaign” to undermine its bid. One of the alleged reasons for disqualifying it is that the asset management firm is a foreign investor and represents an implementation risk.

The insurance joint venture of DHFL, in which Prudential International Holdings has 49 per cent, could reportedly pose as a hurdle to Oaktree as its acquisition of the housing finance firm would breach the FDI norms for the sector.

Among the trio, the Adani group has not submitted an aggressive bid. It has put in a bid of Rs 33,000 crore, which includes an interest payment of Rs 1,000 crore and around Rs 250 crore from the insurance stake sale.

Excluding these two, its bid stands at over Rs 29,700 crore. Of the total amount, the group is proposing an upfront payment of Rs 11,000 crore in cash.

DHFL’s erstwhile promoter Kapil Wadhawan had also proposed to the administrator of DHFL and other agencies to repay all the creditors without any haircut to them.

"My proposal provides for a full repayment of 100 per cent principal to all creditors within 7-8 years with an upfront payment of Rs 9,000 crore,’’ he had said in a letter to the administrator.