Rahul Gandhi’s open letter to IDBI Bank’s employees, released on 28 April 2024, condemned the Centre for deciding to sell the institution to Canadian firm Fairfax Financial Holdings. In March 2023, a group of staff had met him at Parliament House to ask why a profitable public bank was being liquidated, a question he later raised in Lok Sabha.
IDBI, originally a development bank—transformed into a commercial lender in 2017—slipped into loss territory until 2023 when it posted a net profit of ₹9,000 crore. Gandhi credited the workforce for turning the bank’s fortunes, noting that seven years after a loss streak, the bank now contributes significantly to the national economy.
But critics say the sale will strip away reservation categories for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, erasing the bank’s legacy of inclusive hiring. Gandhi warned employees that the newly private structure would also jeopardise their service conditions, which had already been weakened.
The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management clarified that the second bidding round for IDBI, held under the Core Group of Secretaries on Disinvestment, was conducted with no pre‑set benchmark and that reserve prices remained unchanged. The department emphasised that bidders independently assessed the bank’s value through appointed valuation agencies, and that if the highest financial bid fell below the reserve price, the government could decide the next step.
With the final bid from Fairfax cleared, the government faces a parliamentary vote to approve the sale, while employee unions plan legal challenges to safeguard their rights.