General Motors has agreed to sell half its Indian operations and a stake in its Chinese business to China's SAIC Motor Corp, the New York Times reported on Thursday.

The report said the information came from "people with a detailed knowledge" of the deal, which came after SAIC, China's biggest automaker, suspended trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange as it planned a major asset restructuring.

It was not immediately clear the amount of net cash that would change hands in the deal because a series of interlocking transactions would take place, the paper said.

"It's a big deal, it's a good deal," the NYT report quoted one person as saying.

GM has become the second-largest automaker in China mainly through a 50-50 venture for the last decade with SAIC, which makes a wide range of GM cars.

Under the deal, GM would sell a 1 percent stake in the venture to SAIC, raising the Chinese automaker's share to 51 percent, although GM would retain equal voting rights in company decisions and have an option to buy back the stake later, people with knowledge of the transaction said.

GM's international operations have been looking to raise cash in the last month to cover losses incurred when its South Korean subsidiary, Daewoo, made a costly bad bet on financial derivatives based on the Korean won, the New York Times said.

SAIC and GM are 50-50 partners in Shanghai GM, the maker of Cadillac, Buick and Chevrolet models, while it also has a three-way tie, SAIC-GM-Wuling, between SAIC, GM and Liuzhou Wuling Automobile, which makes popular mini vans and mini trucks.

GM, which now holds a 34 percent stake in SAIC-GM-Wuling, has been seeking to increase its stake in the venture -- SAIC owns 50.1 percent and Liuzhou Wuling 15.9 percent.

A SAIC spokeswoman had earlier declined to comment on market speculation about asset restructuring, when contacted by Reuters.