JSW Steel has received the letter of intent from the resolution professional overseeing the auction of Bhushan Power & Steel, taking the country's largest steelmaker a step closer in its acquisition of the insolvent company.

The development comes more than a week after the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal on February 4, turned down Tata Steel's request to consider its bid as the 'most legitimate" one for Bhushan Power & Steel.

Confirming the development, resolution professional Mahender Khandelwal told Moneycontrol that JSW Steel has accepted the LoI. "The resolution will be submitted to the National Company Law Tribunal on Wednesday."

Kandelwal later clarified that while JSW Steel has been sent the Letter of Intent (‘LoI’), the steelmaker is yet to accept it. "The Resolution Plan will be submitted to the Adjudicating Authority upon receipt of duly accepted LoI from JSW Steel," Khandelwal told Moneycontrol.

According to the procedure, the Tribunal will now have to give the stamp of approval, before Bhushan Power & Steel comes under the JSW Steel umbrella.

Sources added that the whole process could be over by March.

The acquisition will cement JSW Steel's position as the country's largest steelmaker. Bhushan Power has a capacity to make 3.5 million tons of steel a year.

JSW Steel has a capacity to produce 19 million tons of steel a year as compared to Tata Steel's 18 million tons, in India.

Tata Steel had moved the tribunal after Bhushan Power's lenders agreed to consider a competing bid by Liberty House, which the Tata company said had come into the race past the deadline. But the Tribunal, in its order, upheld the lenders' decision.

Update: The story has been updated with the clarification from Mahender Khandelwal, the Resolution Professional overseeing the insolvency process of Bhushan Power & Steel Limited.