The Union government may have to bailout cash-strapped Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS), if latest discussions between the group’s board and the government are any indication, according to three people familiar with the development. This has been necessitated following failed attempts by the company to raise ₹4,500 crore through a rights issue If the government does heed the appeal from IL&FS, this would be its second intervention in the company after having recently superseded the board. Uday Kotak, is likely to pitch the centre for a government bailout While the final contours of the programme are still being prepared, the people cited above said it could be a variant of the US government’s rescue act under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act following the 2008 financial crisis. In case the government bailout also falls through, the newly constituted IL&FS board will have to work on alternative plans to raise capital. IL&FS’s plan to raise ₹4,500 crore through a rights issue that closed on Friday devolved, the second of the three people cited earlier said on condition of anonymity. This information has not been made public. The government may also soon pay part of the ₹16,000 crore it owes to the company in lu