New Delhi, March 16 (AHN) IDBI Bank on Monday said it could neither confirm nor deny media reports that the government may scrap the proposed majority stake sale in the lender.

According to an exchange filing, the bank said the strategic disinvestment process is confidential and being handled by the Government of India and that it was not privy to such information making it incapable to comment on news reports referenced by the stock exchange.

The filing was made after the exchange sought the bank’s response to media reports suggesting the sale might be called off because of low price bids.

The Exchange had sought clarification from IDBI Bank Ltd on Monday, with reference to news appearing in national media saying "IDBI Bank stock crashes over 13 per cent after reports that government may scrap majority stake sale due to low price bids."

On query from the exchange if negotiations were taking place, the lender said the disinvestment is being conducted through a competitive bidding process in line with the government’s disinvestment guidelines.

“Such bidding processes do not entail negotiations and accordingly, IDBI Bank has had no role to play in the negotiations,” the bank said in the filing.

The bank further said it had not received any communication from the government regarding the scrapping of the strategic disinvestment process and that it was not aware of any information that would have led to the referenced reports.

"The bank shall promptly disclose to the Stock Exchanges any material information, if and when received," the filing said adding that it has promptly intimated the stock exchanges of all events and information having a bearing on the operations and performance of the bank, including all price-sensitive information.

The Centre had earlier invited financial bids for the disinvestment of IDBI Bank and was likely to announce the winning bidder by the end of March, though the final closure of the transaction could extend beyond the current financial year.

Under the proposed plan, the government aimed to divest a 30.48 per cent stake in the lender, valued at around Rs 36,000 crore at current market prices.

—AHN

aar/na