India doesn't expect to complete sale of IDBI Bank this fiscal year
16/11/2023 13:11
MUMBAI, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The Indian government does
not expect to conclude the sale of IDBI Bank IDBI.NS by the
end of the financial year on March 31, 2024, a top finance
ministry official told reporters.
The federal government, which owns 45.48% of IDBI Bank, and
state-owned Life Insurance Corp of India LIFI.NS , which holds
49.24%, together plan to sell 60.7% of the lender.
Kotak Mahindra Bank KTKM.NS , Canadian billionaire Prem
Watsa-backed CSB Bank CSBB.NS and Emirates NBD ENBD.DU have
submitted initial bids for a majority stake in IDBI Bank and the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been vetting bidders since
April.
"We practically don't think that before March we can
conclude (the sale of IDBI Bank)," said Tuhin Kanta Pandey, the
secretary of the Department of Investment and Public Asset
Management.
Pandey added that the RBI was still conducting the vetting
process. The government had previously expected that process to
be completed by the end of October, raising market hopes that
the sale could close by the end of March.
The sale of a majority stake in IDBI Bank has been seen as a
first step towards privatising other state-run banks, and
delaying the deal means the government will likely miss its
divestment target of 510 billion rupees by a bigger margin.
Since the beginning of the current fiscal year in April,
India has raised only 80 billion rupees by selling stakes in
state-run firms.
Such sales are a key revenue raising measure that have
helped Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government spend record
sums on building infrastructure. But recently, the process has
slowed as the government's focus has shifted towards national
elections due next summer.
(Reporting by Jayshree P Upadhyay
Editing by Mark Potter)
((Aftab.Ahmed@thomsonreuters.com; +91 99109 33884;))