16 Mar , 2026 By : Debdeep Gupta
Shares of IDBI Bank fell as much as 16 percent in early trade on Monday after reports that the government may scrap the ongoing strategic sale process for the lender because the bids received were below its minimum price expectation. IDBI Bank stock dropped to Rs 77.66 in morning trade, reacting to reports over the weekend that the government is set to halt the long-running privatisation effort.
According to reports by Bloomberg and Reuters, the government is likely to scrap the bids received for selling its majority stake in the lender as the offers fell short of the reserve price set for the transaction. The development would effectively halt the current sale process.
The government and Life Insurance Corporation of India had initiated the strategic disinvestment in 2022, aiming to sell around a 60.7 percent stake in the bank.
The government currently holds 45.5 percent equity stake in IDBI Bank, of which, it's looking to divest 30.5 percent; while LIC owns 49.2 percent and plans to offload 30.2 percent. The stake sale could fetch a combined Rs 66,000 crore, according to reported estimates.
Reports had earlier indicated that Canada-based Fairfax Financial Holdings and Dubai’s Emirates NBD were among the bidders for the stake sale.
The government may consider launching a fresh sale process later when market conditions improve and stronger investor interest emerges, according to a government source cited by Reuters. The planned sale of IDBI Bank has been one of the government’s key privatisation efforts aimed at reducing state ownership in the banking sector.
Despite the setback in the disinvestment process, IDBI Bank had returned to profitability in recent years after capital support and efforts to reduce non-performing assets. Over the past year, the stock has gained about 9.2 percent, outperforming the Nifty 50 index, which has risen about 3.4 percent during the same period.
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