IDBI Bank Privatisation Update: Asset Valuer Appointed to calculate Net Worth of IDBI Bank
IDBI Bank Privatisation Update: The government is moving forward with the process of privatising IDBI Bank, which has been going on for the past two and a half years. On Wednesday, Arunish Chawla, the Secretary of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), shared an update about this.
He said that the government has now appointed asset valuers – experts who will carefully assess the value of IDBI Bank’s assets. These experts will help decide how much the bank is worth, which is an important step before selling it to a private company. Along with this, officials are also discussing the share purchase agreement, which is a legal contract that will be signed between the government and the buyer of the bank.
Let’s understand the background:
Back in October 2022, the government, along with LIC (Life Insurance Corporation of India), invited Expressions of Interest (EoIs) from private companies that might be interested in buying IDBI Bank. They offered to sell a total of 60.72% of the bank’s shares, which includes 30.48% held by the government and 30.24% held by LIC.
Mr. Chawla said that DIPAM is seriously working on this strategic sale, following the government’s plan. He also shared that a virtual data room has been set up. This is a secure online space where potential buyers can access all the important documents and financial information about IDBI Bank. There is also a team answering any questions the interested buyers might have.
According to officials, the entire privatisation process is expected to be completed in the next 6 to 7 months. Right now, the asset valuers and the transaction advisors (experts who help in selling big government assets) are preparing their valuation reports. Based on these reports, the government will decide the minimum price (also called the reserve or floor price) at which the bank will be sold.
Once this price is fixed, the government will invite financial bids from the interested buyers. These are final offers where companies will mention how much they are willing to pay to buy the bank. After reviewing the bids, the buyer offering the best deal will be selected. The potential buyer has already received these two major approvals:
- Security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)
- Fit and proper clearance from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which means the buyer is eligible and suitable to own a bank in India.
With this, the privatisation of IDBI Bank is expected to be completed soon. On the other side, IDBI Bank Employees are protesting against the privatisation. Recently, IDBI Bank Employees held Dharna before Parliament on 2nd April 2025. IDBI Bank Employees also recently met Rahul Gandhi demanding cancellation of privatisation of IDBI Bank.
