India-Canada Relations : News & Updates

[Shan]

Prime Minister Carney speaks with Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi

The prime ministers welcomed the increased engagement between Canada and India over the past year, including in areas such as finance, defence and security, people-to-people ties, and artificial intelligence.

www.pm.gc.ca

Today, the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, spoke with the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi.

The prime ministers welcomed the increased engagement between Canada and India over the past year, including in areas such as finance, defence and security, people-to-people ties, and artificial intelligence. They underscored the opportunity to build on this renewed momentum.

To that end, the leaders reaffirmed their commitment to conclude negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) at the earliest opportunity, supporting efforts to double two-way trade by 2030. They welcomed the historic Team Canada Trade Mission currently taking place in India, led by the Minister of International Trade, Maninder Sidhu, as well as a visit to New Delhi this week by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anita Anand, to advance shared priorities, including trade, energy, and people-to-people ties.

The leaders also discussed the impacts of geopolitical instability for the Indo-Pacific region and the need for trusted partners in the areas of energy and agriculture. Prime Minister Carney thanked Prime Minister Modi for his leadership in seeking a peaceful resolution to Russia’s war on Ukraine.

The prime ministers welcomed the bilateral security dialogue that took place in India last week as part of ongoing security and law enforcement engagement at the National Security Advisor level.

The leaders agreed to remain in close contact ahead of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Canada in December.

 

[Gautam]

Canada's Fairfax buys majority stake in IDBI Bank for $5.56 billion

By Reuters
October 14, 20264:18 PM GMT+5:30

The logo of IDBI Bank is seen on the facade of its headquarters in Mumbai, India, April 18, 2023. REUTERS/Niharika Kulkarni.

Summary

• Acquisition will be India's biggest cross-border bank deal
• Federal government, LIC selling combined 60.7% stake in lender
• Government, LIC will retain 34% stake after transaction
• India has seen burst of cross-border investment in the financial sector

NEW DELHI, Oct 14 (Reuters)- Canada's Fairfax Financial Holdings will buy a majority stake in India's IDBI Bank in a deal worth 528.78 ‌billion Indian rupees ($5.56 billion), the Indian government said on Wednesday.

The acquisition, in the making for over four years, will see Fairfax take control of IDBI Bank in India's biggest cross-border bank deal.

Fairfax will offer 81 rupees per share for IDBI Bank above the benchmark price of 75.99 per share determined by the government based on fair valuations, Indian officials said in a statement.

Shares of IDBI Bank closed at 90.44 rupees per share, up 9% on the day. The announcement came after the close of trade.

INDIA SEEING ⁠RUSH OF FOREIGN INVESTMENTS

India's federal government and state-run Life Insurance Corp of India are selling a combined 60.7% stake in IDBI Bank. They will retain a 34% stake after the transaction and can sell their holdings in the open market as part of the agreement.

The deal is subject to approvals from the Reserve Bank of India, the country's central bank and banking regulator.

Over the last two years, India has seen a rush of foreign investments in the financial sector, which is seeing strong demand for credit and low delinquencies.

Last year, Emirates NBD said it was acquiring a stake in private lender RBL Bank for $3 billion.

Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation also bought a 20% stake in Yes Bank, and MUFG acquired a 20% holding in non-bank lender Shriram Finance for $4.4 billion.

LIMITED SUCCESS IN PRIVATISATION

India in 2021 announced a major ‌program to ⁠privatize most of its state-run companies, including in the four sectors it sees as sensitive, which include telecoms and banking.

Since then, the sale of Air India to the Tata Group has been the Modi government's major success.

India in May privatized a smaller state-run firm, Indian Medicines Pharmaceutical Corp, and has sold indirect holdings in steelmaker Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd to Tata Steel, and Ferro Scrap Nigam to Konoike Transport Co.

The plan to sell the IDBI stake ⁠was first announced in 2022 but was shelved in March as bids fell short of the government's sale price expectation.
It was restarted after the government lowered its price expectations after accounting for a fall in IDBI's publicly traded price.

The lender had total assets of 4.44 trillion rupees, or $46.66 billion, as of ⁠June 2026. It has business across retail and institutional segments, and more than 2,000 branches across the country.

It had a gross bad loan ratio of 2.3% as of June, down sharply from nearly 32% in September 2018.

Fairfax has been a major investor in India through Fairfax ⁠India Holdings Corporation, which had assets worth $3.8 billion as of June 30, 2026. Its other investments include non-bank lender IIFL Capital and online brokerage firm 5paisa.

https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indian-government-approves-restructuring-idbi-bank-2026-10-14/