Tata Motors has taken the unusual step of appealing to the Indian public for cash as India’s third largest carmaker struggles to refinance its acquisition of Ford’s luxury Jaguar and Land Rover marques early this year.

The company, one of the most prominent of a series of Indian firms to have made acquisitions during the liquidity boom, is offering to pay as much as 11 per cent annual interest to members of the public who enter into a fixed deposit scheme with the group.