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Informist, Tuesday, Apr. 7, 2026

 

--Fin min source: May seek revised fincl bids for stake sale in IDBI Bank

--Fin min source: Not in favour of scrapping current IDBI Bank sale process

 

By Krity Ambey and Sagar Sen

 

NEW DELHI – The government may seek revised financial bids from the two shortlisted potential buyers for strategic disinvestment of IDBI Bank, according to three finance ministry officials. Despite receiving rather disappointing financial bids, which were below the reserve price, for the strategic sale of the bank, the government is not in favour of scrapping the current process which started back in 2022, according to the officials.

 

"The resolve is to conclude the transaction in 2026-27 (Apr-Mar), restarting the process may delay the timeline," one of the officials told Informist. Strategic disinvestment processes begin with the government seeking expressions of interest from potential buyers, and entail an elaborate, time-consuming step of due-diligence to shortlist qualified buyers. The government received financial bids for IDBI Bank in February, four years after inviting initial bids.

 

Among the two bidders that had submitted financial bids for IDBI Bank, one was "outrageously low", one of the officials said. The government is counting on getting a fairer revised bid from the other shortlisted buyer, a second official said. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. and Emirates NBD are the two likely bidders.

 

The government aims to sell its 30.48% stake and Life Insurance Corp. of India's 30.24% stake in the bank. After the proposed strategic sale, the shareholdings of the government and LIC in IDBI Bank will fall to 15% and 19%, respectively. Tuesday, shares of IDBI Bank ended 0.6% lower at INR 69.64 on the National Stock Exchange.

 

At the current share price, the government may raise nearly INR 216 billion from the strategic sale of IDBI Bank, accounting for 27% of the net miscellaneous capital receipts target for FY27. The government aims to raise INR 800 billion as miscellaneous capital receipts through the disinvestment of its stake in public sector undertakings and asset monetisation in the current financial year. The government discontinued the practice of giving a specific target for divestment receipts in FY25.  End

 

Edited by Ashish Shirke

 

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