The roping-in of a joint venture partner is being seen as an obvious option, which the Dalmias are exploring to take on the might of the Sheths-Mahindras, who also have the formidable backing of Deepak Parekh's HDFC and Uday Kotak's Kotak Mahindra Capital Company.

When contacted, Mr Abhishek Dalmia of Renaissance Estates, which has made the open offer, told The Financial Express:"We have several options before us. But we cannot say anything until our strategy is firmed up."

However, corporate circles are abuzz with talk that the joint venture alliance is high on the Dalmias' list of options, since the open offer by the Sheths is at Rs 36 per share, but for only 33.5 per cent. The Dalmias have bid for 45 per cent of the company. The view in the Dalmia camp appears to be that letting the company go out of their grip for a counter-offer of only Rs 36 would be a pity and therefore a fight is clearly on.

Mr Dalmia himself is camping in Mumbai and exploring all the avenues before the group, to counter the combined might of the four big players who have come together to take the Delhi-based industrial family head-on.Market circles also say that there may be another option before the Dalmias.

This is to sound out other shareholders in GESCO, who hold bits of shareholding, who would be interested in selling out to the Dalmias at a higher offer price, which may or may not be equal to the Sheths-Mahindras' price, but near it. This is where the Dalmias' higher size of offer would make a difference. Once these parties sell to the Dalmias, it would help them reach the critical 26 per cent mark, which may also be a major bargaining point for them in getting some hold on the company and its management. The Dalmias currently hold 10.4 per cent in GESCO.

The Dalmia group is also keen to underscore the fact that there is no hurry to revise the offer, since there is time till the last seven working days before close of the offer period to do so. However, if the offer has to be withdrawn, then it has to be done within 14 days of the counter-offer from the Sheths-Mahindras combine.