IDBI Bank disinvestment unlikely this fiscal: Dipam secretary

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Dipam secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Thursday that the government’s disinvestment in IDBI Bank is unlikely to get completed before the end of this financial year.

“The transaction is conditioned on several factors. There is a fit and proper examination by the RBI, there is due diligence to be done and then the financial criteria. So it depends upon how much time all of these things take. RBI sometimes seeks a lot of information,” said Pandey.

The government and LIC own a 61 per cent stake in IDBI Bank. LIC recently invited bids for asset valuers.

The DIPAM secretary further said that disinvestment should not be looked at only from the point of view of fiscal receipts. “We must have holistic view of dividend and disinvestment even if we are to consider fiscal receipts. Whether we must have only disinvestment as a target or both dividend and disinvestment both as a target. Because money is fungible, so money coming in the form of dividends is equally valuable. We should start looking at the two together,” he said.

The dividend from the central public sector enterprises totalled ₹16,257 crore in FY24, according to reports.