All due process followed in IDBI strategic restructuring; Bank poised for next

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Sitharaman rebutted opposition claims, arguing the turnaround and privatisation steps serve the public interest.

By BL New Delhi Bureau

Updated - October 30, 2026 at 06:54 PM. | New Delhi

Finance Ministry has clarified that all the due processes were followed in strategic restructuring of IDBI Bank.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday reiterated that all due processes were followed in strategic restructuring of IDBI Bank. At the same time, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) underlined that the second round of bidding for the bank disinvestment was conducted under a procedure determined by the Core Group of Secretaries on Disinvestment (CGD), empowered to decide about procedural issues.

The FM was responding to the Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi questioning why a profitable public bank was being sold to Fairfax in a letter he wrote to IDBI employees. “Seven years ago, IDBI was losing money. Last year, it earned a profit of over nine thousand crore rupees. That turnaround is your work,” he said in his open letter to bank employees. An institution built with public money belongs to the public, Gandhi asserted.

The FM retorted by saying that the Government “revived the IDBI bank through professionalism, prudence and recapitalisation of more than ₹25,000 crore”. “The IDBI Bank is now poised for its next phase of growth. All due processes have been followed in the IDBI Bank strategic restructuring,” Sitharaman said in a social media post.

The media questioning of the bidding process was clarified by DIPAM earlier by highlighting the initial round of bidding was conducted in the financial year 2025-26, but the bids were not approved, following which the first round ceased to have further effect. It added that the reserve price was neither reduced nor increased, and the procedure for the second round, also referred to as the best offer round, was determined by the CGD.

Explaining the bidding mechanism, DIPAM said independent valuation agencies are engaged to assess the fair value of the bank, which serves as a comparator to determine the reasonableness of the bids. “The bid discovered price and the comparative valuation can, therefore, be above or below each other,” it said.

On the remarks made by Gandhi, the FM said, “IDBI Bank was handed over to us in poor shape, as IDBI itself was forced to lend to large business groups with close connections to @INCIndia leaders such as Videocon, Winsome, ABG Shipyard and Kingfisher.” She said after the inusion of capital by the NDA government, the bank, through strategic restructuring by due process, is looking at the next phase of growth.

Published on October 30, 2026

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