Canada-India $5.5 billion bank takeover attracts opposition from workers, politicians
Employees and opposition leaders question the bank’s valuation and transparency, while the union calls a two-day nationwide strike against the sale.
- On Thursday, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management defended the strategic sale process of IDBI Bank, maintaining that neither the reserve price nor the established process changed during the second round of bidding.
- The clarification addresses questions regarding the divestment process, in which the Department and Life Insurance Corporation of India are selling a majority stake in IDBI Bank.
- Under powers delegated by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs , the Core Group of Secretaries on Disinvestment conducted the second round; independent agencies revised assessments in May to reflect current financial positions.
- The Department stated the first round ceased to have effect after initial bids were rejected; the request for proposal dictates that bidders cannot challenge decisions regarding bids falling below the reserve price.
- No pre-determined benchmark existed for bids, according to the Department, which noted that independent agencies compared bid-discovered prices and valuations to determine if offers were reasonable.
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India’s IDBI Bank Employees Strike Over Fairfax Acquisition
IDBI Bank Ltd. employees started a two-day nationwide strike on Monday to protest against the planned privatization of the lender, calling on the federal government to scrap the sale to Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd.
Rahul Gandhi questions IDBI Bank sale to Fairfax, Sitharaman accuses Congress of mismanagement
Rahul Gandhi has questioned the Centre's proposed sale of IDBI Bank to Canada's Fairfax Financial Holdings, raising concerns over employee rights, reservations and public ownership. Nirmala Sitharaman has defended the deal and accused the Congress of mismanaging banks.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman retaliated to Rahul Gandhi's allegations regarding the proposed sale of IDBI Bank. He said that Rahul Gandhi will have to apologize in this case as well as in the Rafale dispute.
All due processes followed in IDBI Bank's strategic restructuring: Nirmala Sitharaman
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman's comments come in response to senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations that bids for IDBI Bank were first seen, and then the sale price was fixed.
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