The race to acquire scam-hit Punjab & Maharashtra Co-operative Bank Limited is heating up. Resilient Innovations Private Limited (BharatPe) and Centrum Capital Limited (BSE:501150) are set to submit an aggressive bid to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The joint bid is said to have a proposal to pay back 100% to retail depositors, who want to withdraw, according to sources aware of the matter. Though the final date for submitting bids was January 18, 2021, the RBI has extended the deadline to February 1, 2021 on request from Liberty House Limited (Liberty Group), which had also submitted an expression of interest (EoI) to acquire the bank. Sanjeev Gupta-led Liberty Group had said that the recent cancellation of flights to India due to the Covid-19 new strain in the UK had made it difficult for the group to conduct due diligence on PMC Bank and prepare its bid in time. The two other independent business families, who had submitted EoIs to the RBI, are said to be out of the race."BharatPe and Centrum are finalizing a strong bid. After submitting the bid, the RBI is expected to meet the bidders one-on-one to pick the winning offer," a person aware of the matter said. When contacted, a spokesperson of the Liberty Group and BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover declined to comment. An email sent to the RBI did not elicit any response. The RBI had extended its restrictions on PMC Bank till March 2021.