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The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) on Friday, February 6, informed that financial bids have been received for the "strategic disinvestment of the IDBI Bank".

These bids will be evaluated as per the prescribed procedure, it noted. 

As of now, the central administration and LIC control 90% of this Mumbai-headquartered lender.

Reportedly, the contenders seeking to control 60.72% stake held by  Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and the centre includes Fairfax Financial, Emirates NBD, and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

The disinvestment process, formally launched in October 2022, has faced delays as the government worked through procedural and regulatory requirements to facilitate a potential sale.

This comes in the backdrop of the Union Budget 2026 setting a target of Rs 80,000 crore from asset monetization, and disinvestment. in FY27.

DIPAM Secretary Arunish Chawla noted that the IDBI Bank sale had moved into the third phase with technical and financial bids invited, according to media reports.

The list of current suitors in order to emerge as a successful bidder will require final clearance from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under its ‘fit and proper’ criteria. Additionally, bidders will  also need to make an open offer to the private bank's minority shareholders.

Meanwhile, the centre and India's biggest life insurance provider have sorted approvals to give up their promoter status to streamline the process of disinvestment. On the other hand, the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has been approached to exempt IDBI Bank from minimum public shareholding requirements that mandate a 25% free float for listed companies.