Foreign banks bet ₹1.32 lakh crore (about $13.7bn) on Indian lenders (opens the source in a new tab)
- Four deals from Canada, Japan and the UAE total about ₹1.32 lakh crore, roughly $13.7 billion at the rate implied by ET's $5.5 billion for IDBI: Fairfax buying 60.72% of IDBI Bank, MUFG 20% of Shriram Finance, Emirates NBD 60% of RBL Bank and SMBC an initial 20% of Yes Bank.
- The total is deal value, not all fresh money: MUFG and Emirates NBD put in new capital, while SMBC mainly bought existing shares.
- Three of the buyers paid about 1.3 to 1.6 times book value for cleaned-up lenders. Fairfax also owns CSB Bank, a two-bank question for the RBI.
- ₹1.32 lakh cr
- four deals combined
- $13.7bn
- same total in dollars
- 60.72%
- IDBI stake to Fairfax
Why it matters Foreign owners are buying ready-made franchises (licences, branches, deposits) rather than building them. That brings capital and discipline, and tougher competition for Indian incumbents.
Watch next RBI approval. It will weigh control, governance and Fairfax's overlap with CSB Bank, and foreign control of big lenders raises the question of who answers if things go wrong.