Report by Kamgar Ekta Committee (KEC) correspondent
The government is pushing forward the strategic sale of Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI). It plans to call financial bids between October and December. This sale, in partnership with the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), involves selling 60.72% share of the company. This is expected to get the government around ₹50,000 crore.
The United Forum of IDBI Officers & Employees (UFIOE), representing members of the All India IDBI Officers’ Association (AIIDBIOA) and All India Industrial Development Bank Employees Association (AIIDBEA), held a one-day All India strike on 11 August 2025, opposing the proposed sale of IDBI and pressing for a range of service and policy demands.
This action followed protests earlier this year at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on 26 July and in Azad Maidan, Mumbai on 9 August, with support from the United Forum of Bank Unions UFBU and other unions.
The strike on 11 August saw participation from IDBI branches across major cities including Mumbai, Kochi, Thrissur, Nagpur, Kolkata, Vijayawada, Thiruvananthapuram, Visakhapatnam, Bengaluru, Kozhikode, Coimbatore, Chandigarh, Rajahmundry, etc. The strike showed that IDBI employees all across the country are united in opposing the privatisation move.
It is to be noted that in 2003, the then Finance Minister Jaswant Singh had given an assurance in both the houses of Parliament that the government at all times would not reduce its share below 51 per cent in IDBI. Subsequently, in 2018, the government reduced its share to 30 per cent. However, this was done by making LIC buy the majority of shares of IDBI. The Central government declared that because LIC was publicly owned, IDBI remained a public sector bank. However, beginning in 2021, the government began moving in the direction of selling the majority share of the IDBI to a private company — foreign or Indian.
The potential bidders for IDBI are big investment companies like Fairfax India Holdings (owned by Fairfax Financial Holdings, Canada), Emirates in Dubai and Kotak Mahindra Bank. These bidders are all interested in the real estate owned by IDBI and in accessing the savings of IDBI’s depositors. Their interest is in maximising returns on their investment in the bank.
Many of the existing borrowers of IDBI like farmers, small businesses and students will be considered too risky to lend to. There is concern about the vulnerability of depositors if the bank becomes yet another failure, like privately owned banks such as Punjab & Maharashtra Co-operative Bank, Lakshmi Vilas Bank, and YES Bank.
The demands of the bank employees are for restoration of government of India’s share to at least 51% by acquiring 6% from the market or from LIC; ensuring RBI treats IDBI as a public sector bank for regulatory purposes; reinstating its role as a development bank.
Kamgar Ekta Committee calls upon the working class and people of our country to vigorously oppose the privatisation of IDBI.