The government has received revised financial bids from Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings and Dubai-based Emirates NBD for the strategic sale of IDBI Bank, with the long-delayed process now likely to be concluded within a month, a senior government official said.

The revised offers are being evaluated. On Monday, a series of high-level meetings reviewed the progress of the sale. Sources said the Core Group of Secretaries on Disinvestment (CGD), chaired by the Cabinet Secretary, met to deliberate on the bids and other issues relating to the proposed transaction.

Separately, the Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) overseeing the strategic disinvestment of IDBI Bank also met under the co-chairmanship of Financial Services Secretary Sanjay Lohiya and Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Arunish Chawla.

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Investors cheered the development. IDBI Bank shares rose more than 5% intraday to ₹88.40 on the BSE on Tuesday, taking the stock’s gain over the past month to nearly 16%.

The strategic sale was put on hold in early March after the financial bids received from the two contenders—Fairfax and Emirates NBD—fell short of the government’s reserve price. Although four bidders had been shortlisted, only the two submitted binding financial offers on February 6.

Following the pause, the government explored ways to revive the process, including recalibrating the reserve price and adopting a valuation methodology that better reflected the bank’s intrinsic worth instead of relying primarily on prevailing market prices. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had reiterated in April that the Centre remained committed to completing the privatisation.

Fairfax, led by billionaire Prem Watsa, is understood to have strengthened its offer and is widely seen as the frontrunner. The Canadian investor has also reportedly undertaken to make IDBI Bank its only banking investment in India by exiting its 40% stake in CSB Bank, in line with Reserve Bank of India norms that do not permit a promoter to own two banking licences. Any transaction will require approvals from the Union Cabinet and the RBI.

The Centre and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) are jointly selling a 60.72% stake in the lender. The government owns 45.48% of IDBI Bank, while LIC holds 49.24%. Under the proposed transaction, the government will divest 30.48%, with LIC selling 30.24%.

At current market prices, the government’s stake is valued at about Rs 29,000 crore, while the overall transaction is worth roughly $5.7 billion, making it one of the largest foreign investments in India’s banking sector.

The disinvestment process, launched in 2022, has been delayed by regulatory clearances and procedural hurdles. The lender, once burdened by high levels of bad loans, has staged a turnaround over the past few years, helped by capital infusion, improving asset quality and sustained profitability.

The revived sale also comes amid growing foreign interest in India’s financial sector. Emirates NBD last year acquired a majority stake in RBL Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) bought a 20% stake in Shriram Finance, while Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) acquired 24% of Yes Bank. The government is also considering raising the foreign direct investment cap in public sector banks to 49% from the current 20%, a move aimed at attracting greater overseas participation in future bank privatisations.