Govt aims to complete IDBI Bank stake sale before FY26-end: M Nagaraju

DFS Secretary M Nagaraju says the government will complete the IDBI Bank sale this fiscal and begin phased divestment in five other public sector lenders

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The Government of India is confident of completing the stake sale in IDBI Bank before the end of the current financial year (FY26), said M Nagaraju, secretary, Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance, on Tuesday.

 

Currently, the government holds a 45.48 per cent stake in IDBI Bank, while state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) owns 49.24 per cent. Together, they plan to sell a 60.7 per cent stake in the lender. The disinvestment process was first announced in 2022.

 

Nagaraju said the government is also on track to carry out divestments in other state-run banks through offer-for-sale mechanisms within the same timeframe.

 

Phased stake sale in five public sector banks planned

 

The government plans to offload up to 20 per cent of its stake in five public sector banks over the next four years to comply with the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI’s) requirement that listed companies maintain a minimum public shareholding of 25 per cent.

 

The five banks targeted for phased disinvestment are Bank of Maharashtra, Indian Overseas Bank, UCO Bank, Central Bank of India, and Punjab and Sind Bank. In each of these institutions, the government plans to gradually reduce its stake to below 75 per cent.

 

New UPI authentication features launched

 

Nagaraju also launched an on-device authentication feature for the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), enabling users to authenticate payments directly through their smartphone’s built-in security options, such as fingerprint or face unlock. This will serve as an alternative to manually entering a UPI personal identification number (PIN).

 

He also launched Aadhaar-based face authentication for UPI.

 

This feature will allow users to set or reset their UPI PIN directly within UPI apps.

 

“Until now, creating a UPI PIN required entering debit card details or going through Aadhaar one-time password (OTP) verification. With Aadhaar-based face authentication for UPI PIN, onboarding becomes faster, simpler, and more inclusive, especially for first-time users, senior citizens, and those without easy access to cards,” the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said in a statement.