Harshad Joshi

My warning about the sale of IDBI Bank to Canada’s Fairfax now takes on an even more disturbing dimension. Businessworld’s explosive report reveals a bizarre turn: after Fairfax’s initial bid of Rs. 75 per share fell short of the original reserve price of Rs. 94.42 fixed by Govt, the methodology was revisited and Fairfax’s revised bid of Rs. 81 was accepted - after reducing the reserve price to Rs. 75.99!. This time, Govt also agreed to indemnify IDBI's disputed income tax liability, with potential additional exposure alone amounting to hundreds of crores. To justify accepting less than the original minimum price, the Government reportedly invoked an unusual precedent: the Railway Stores Code for auctioning scrap which states "Bids lower than the reserve prices may, however, be accepted by the Depot Officer where found expedient provided the Depot Officer doing so records his reasons in writing" - to help justify the sale of a strategic public bank!! Since when is a national banking asset to be treated like railway scrap? Who changed the rules, why, and in whose interest - and at what cost to the public? Worse, the internal note reportedly cited weak FDI inflows, currency pressures and treasury strain to justify the sale on reduced rates - even as the Finance Minister publicly defends India’s economic fundamentals and official figures report record gross FDI inflows. @palakshahjourno @BWBusinessworld @IdbiFor #IDBIBank #IDBISaleScam businessworld.in/article/sen…