Rahul Gandhi Slams Centre Over Privatization Move to Fairfax

• by Akanksha Mishra
• 2026-10-30 11:16:00

Leader of the Opposition and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has sharply criticized the Modi-led central government over the strategic privatization of IDBI Bank, declaring firm solidarity with the lender's workforce. In a direct communication addressed to IDBI Bank employees and a statement on social media platform X, Gandhi argued that public sector financial institutions built during previous Congress regimes to catalyze national industrialization are systematically being sold off. He expressed strong disapproval of transferring ownership of a lender to private interests right after employees turned it around from chronic legacy losses into an enterprise reporting over ₹9,000 crore in annual profit.

Turnaround from Losses to ₹9,000 Crore Profit: Gandhi's Letter Backs Staff Rights and 2003 Parliament Pledge

Reflecting on his interactions with delegations of IDBI Bank personnel who visited him at Parliament House, Gandhi questioned the rationale behind offloading a thriving lender:

Remarkable Financial Recovery: Tracing IDBI's evolution from a specialized development institution into a commercial entity, Gandhi emphasized that the bank went from deep losses seven years ago to posting robust profits exceeding ₹9,000 crore last year purely through employee resilience.

Public Ownership Stake Reduction: The Central Government alongside the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) collectively holds a 95 percent controlling stake in IDBI Bank, which is set to decline sharply to 34 percent following the privatization transaction.

Violation of 2003 Sovereign Assurance: Citing parliamentary proceedings from 2003, Gandhi noted that the government had pledged on the floor of the House that state equity in IDBI would never drop below 51 percent, affirming that parliamentary assurances must remain sacred.

Concerns Over SC, ST, and OBC Quotas: The Congress leader highlighted worker anxieties that private acquisition by foreign entities like Canadian conglomerate Fairfax could dismantle affirmative action reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes while eroding baseline job security.

DIPAM Confirms Completion of Second Bidding Round Under Best Offer Framework

Countering broader market speculation around transaction terms, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) issued an update outlining the current status of the disinvestment process:

Second Round Concluded: DIPAM confirmed on Thursday that the second formal round of financial bidding for the strategic disinvestment of IDBI Bank has been executed under the guidelines set by the Core Group of Secretaries on Disinvestment (CGD).

Previous Bids Nullified: The department clarified that initial bids collected during the 2025–26 fiscal phase were not approved by authorities, rendering that initial round void without continuity into current proceedings.

Unchanged Reserve Benchmark: Addressing pricing transparency concerns, DIPAM stated that the reserve price—the benchmark minimum valuation established for selling the lender—was neither reduced nor inflated during this secondary 'best offer' round.

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