The government on Friday received financial bids for the strategic divestment of IDBI Bank, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (Dipam) said in an official statement on X.

“Financial bids have been received for the strategic divestment of IDBI Bank.

“They will be evaluated as per the prescribed procedure,” Dipam said, without disclosing further details.

Why this development is important

The development assumes significance as the Union Budget for 2026-27 has pegged the divestment target at around Rs 80,000 crore under miscellaneous capital receipts, which include the sale of shares in public sector undertakings (PSUs) and asset monetisation.

This comes after the government fell short of its budgeted divestment target of about Rs 47,000 crore in FY26, revising it sharply downward to Rs 33,837 crore in the Revised Estimates.

The Centre and Life Insurance Corporation of India together hold a 95 per cent stake in IDBI Bank, of which 60.72 per cent is on the block.

Officials have maintained that asset monetisation and divestment would remain key pillars of the government’s capital receipts strategy.

“The intent is that we will have a very strong asset monetisation plan in place. In the previous year’s Budget, the finance minister had announced that there will be a pipeline prepared.

“We hope to reap the dividend from that,” Anuradha Thakur, secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, had said at the post-Budget press conference.

Diapm secretary Arunish Chawla, during the post-Budget press conference, had said the government was pursuing a composite strategy that combines divestment and closure of PSUs to enhance private sector participation and efficiency.

How govt plans to enhance private sector participation

“Divestment and closures should be seen together as part of this strategy, which enhances or increases the participation and efficiency of the private sector,” Chawla had said.

He added that of around 50 firms for which in-principle approvals have been obtained for divestment or closure, about half of the transactions have already been completed.

“That means about 12 closures and 13 strategic divestment transactions, and the others are on track.

“That is why we keep an aspirational target, and we are on track and fully committed to a logical conclusion,” he said.

Dipam has received multiple EoIs for IDBI

In January 2023, Dipam had received multiple expressions of interest for IDBI Bank.

The prospective buyers have already been granted security clearance by the Ministry of Home Affairs and cleared under the ‘fit and proper’ criteria after evaluation by the Reserve Bank of India.