DIPAM secretary Arunish Chawla said the long-awaited IDBI Bank divestment by the government is progressing rapidly, with several key steps being taken.
IDBI Bank shares rallied over 3 per cent on April 9.
Speaking to CNBC-TV18 earlier this week, Chawla described the ‘multi-stage’ process as ‘quite complex’ involving multiple work-streams running in parallel.
“The virtual data room is active, all queries are being answered, we are negotiating the shareholders’ agreement, and we have already appointed an asset valuer,” Chawla said, adding, “Everything is moving like a parallel computer.”
The DIPAM secretary refrained from giving any specific timelines, but indicated that the deal could be completed in the first half of FY26.
Responding to a question on a possible H1FY26 timeline, he said, “Hopefully it will happen, we are hopeful.” While there has been speculation about interested parties for the asset, Chawla declined to comment on the identity of any potential bidders. “We don’t comment on potential bidders,” he said.
The DIPAM secretary wants fund managers to include PSU stocks in their portfolios and according to some reports, officials from the disinvestment department are scheduled to meet mutual funds in Mumbai next week.
The IDBI Bank disinvestment is a key test case for the government’s strategic disinvestment policy, which aims to reduce its stake in non-strategic public sector enterprises while attracting long-term private capital.
The Centre and LIC currently hold a combined 94.72% stake in the bank, with the plan being to sell a majority stake to a strategic buyer. The Government of India and LIC together are aiming to sell 61% stake in IDBI Bank, with 30.48% stake held by the Centre and 30.24% by LIC.
The disinvestment process formally began in January 2023 with the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) inviting Expressions of Interest (EoI).
Subsequently, the names of interested bidders were sent to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for due diligence.
Once regulatory approval was received, the shortlisted bidders were provided access to IDBI Bank’s virtual data room for further evaluation.
