Dates: November 2 and 3, 2026.
Organiser: United Forum of IDBI Officers and Employees.
Buyer: a subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings.
Stake: 60.72%, for about Rs 52,878 crore.
Employees expected: more than 10,000.
The sale covers a 60.72% stake, made up of the combined holdings of the government and LIC, for about Rs 52,878 crore, according to The Sunday Guardian.
Management control would pass to the buyer, and the Union Cabinet has approved the strategic sale, according to the same report.
The forum has demanded that the privatisation and strategic sale be withdrawn.
It has also asked that the government keep at least 51% ownership of the bank.
Other demands include protecting existing service conditions and welfare benefits, safeguarding pension and retirement benefits, and continuing reservation policies and industry-level wage revisions.
The forum also wants protection for contractual and outsourced workers and has asked for written assurances on employee rights if ownership changes.
Reports say the forum has also demanded absorption of around 15,000 outsourced and contractual workers.
The forum wants employees to have an option to move to public sector banks while keeping their service records, seniority, pay scales and retirement benefits.
The forum has warned it could intensify its agitation, including a prolonged or indefinite strike, if the demands are not met.
The Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions has urged a halt to the disinvestment and called for an independent investigation and a Parliamentary review, according to reports.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has opposed the sale, arguing that privatisation could cost Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Classes candidates their reservations, according to Business Standard.
Another opposition leader, K T Rama Rao, has questioned the Centre’s urgency and raised concerns about valuation, according to The Daily Pioneer.
The forum had earlier held a one-day nationwide hunger strike on July 27, 2026, according to reports.
IDBI Bank branch, Paravur (file image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Kabir reports on film music, celebrity news and behind-the-scenes stories from Mumbai.
