Congress has questioned the Centre’s decision to sell IDBI Bank, arguing that the lender has consistently reported strong profits, maintained relatively low non-performing assets (NPAs) and delivered healthy returns despite the proposed disinvestment.
A Congress spokesperson pointed out that IDBI Bank’s profits have increased consistently over the past six financial years, rising from Rs 1,359 crore in FY21 to Rs 9,513 crore in FY26. The bank reported a profit of Rs 2,439 crore in FY22, Rs 3,645 crore in FY23, Rs 5,634 crore in FY24 and Rs 7,515 crore in FY25. According to the spokesperson, the bank’s cumulative profits during this period stood at Rs 30,105 crore.
The Congress leader also highlighted IDBI Bank’s asset quality, claiming that its non-performing assets (NPAs) account for only around 2 per cent. Further, the spokesperson said the lender is among the leading banks in terms of profit generated per employee, with the figure standing at Rs 49.8 lakh.
Raising questions over the government’s disinvestment plans, the Congress spokesperson asked why a bank that has consistently delivered profits and improved its financial performance should be sold. The remarks come amid the Centre’s efforts to divest its stake in IDBI Bank as part of its broader privatisation and disinvestment strategy.
The government has defended the bidding process for IDBI Bank’s proposed privatisation, clarifying that the reserve price remained unchanged during the second round of bidding. It also said the revised procedure resulted in a Rs 3,917 crore increase in the discovered bid price.
In a statement, the Finance Ministry rejected suggestions that the reserve price was either lowered or raised to facilitate the transaction. It maintained that the initial bidding exercise had ceased to remain operational after the first set of offers failed to secure approval.
Earlier, the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has backed the bank’s employees and questioned the Centre’s decision to sell a profitable public sector bank to Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings.
The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said public sector banks should not be treated as assets for sale, arguing that they play an important role in nation-building.