Mumbai: The government is confident of completing the IDBI Bank stake sale in FY26 itself, Department of Financial Services Secretary M. Nagaraju said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the annual GFF event here, Nagaraju also clarified that there is no proposal to start charging for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions.
The IDBI Bank sale is progressing as planned and is expected to be completed before the end of the current fiscal year. It is worth noting that the government is planning to sell a 60 percent stake in the city-headquartered lender. Currently, the government holds over 45 percent stake, while the state-run Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) owns over 49 percent.
Apart from IDBI Bank, Nagaraju mentioned that the government is also on track to carry out divestments in other state-run banks through Offer for Sale (OFS) issuances. The plan includes offloading up to 20 percent stake in four state-run lenders. According to the government, these stake sales will help comply with the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) requirement that listed companies maintain a minimum public shareholding of 25 percent.
The OFS will be conducted in Bank of Maharashtra, Indian Overseas Bank, UCO Bank, Central Bank of India, and Punjab and Sind Bank to bring the government stake below 75 percent, based on previous disclosures.
Meanwhile, speaking at the same event, Axis Bank’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Chaudhry said the private sector lender will be very keen to finance entities looking for acquisition funding. He pointed out that foreign lenders currently dominate this segment, and private credit remains a relatively new area within it.
Axis Bank is already active in the bond and loan syndication space, he added.
It is noteworthy that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week announced a decision allowing domestic banks to provide acquisition financing, fulfilling a long-standing request from lenders.
Regarding the RBI’s recent move on ‘forms of business,’ Chaudhry expressed that Axis Bank will await the final circular from the central bank before deciding its next steps.
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