Finance Ministry says 2003 parliamentary statements do not bar reduction of the government's IDBI stake

17 October 2026

The Ministry of Finance issued a clarification on 17 October 2026 on the legislative history of the government's shareholding in IDBI Bank. It said that during the 2003 Union Budget discussion and the parliamentary debate on the Industrial Development Bank of India (Repeal) Act, 2003, an amendment was moved to limit any reduction in the government's stake, but it was rejected and never became part of the enacted law. The release cited All India IDBI Officers Association v. Union of India and Others, in which the Delhi High Court dismissed the writ petition on 17 December 2018. In paragraphs 41 and 42 the High Court held that statements made in Parliament cannot stop the government from reducing or fully ending its stake, that the doctrine of promissory estoppel did not fully apply, and that the Act's language is unambiguous with no implied restriction. The Ministry noted that the policy was restated in the Budget 2016-17 speech, which spoke of considering a reduction of the government's stake below 50 per cent, and in the Budget 2021-22 speech, which listed strategic disinvestment of IDBI Bank among transactions to be completed in 2021-22.