NEW DELHI, 18 October 2026 — The week’s largest decision was a sale. On 14 October the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the transfer of 60.72% of IDBI Bank to 10955230 Canada Inc., a unit of Fairfax Financial Holdings, for ₹52,878 crore at ₹81 a share, according to the Ministry of Finance release of that afternoon. The ministry called it, once completed, “the largest FDI in the financial sector of our economy so far.” That transaction is the Big Read below.
The price data ran the other way from the growth data. Consumer inflation rose to 5.54% in September from 4.83% in August, with food at 7.74% and onions 108% dearer than a year ago, on the National Statistics Office release of 12 October. Wholesale inflation reached 11.39%, driven by fuel and power at 25.85%, on the Commerce Ministry release of 14 October. Yet the International Monetary Fund held India’s growth at 7% for 2026 and 2027, more than twice its 3.1% for the world, at its briefing of 13 October. Exports kept their pace: goods and services together reached an estimated $476.20 billion in April–September, up 13.84%, with electronics up 70.44% in September alone, on the trade release of 15 October. And the Reserve Bank’s data of 15 and 16 October showed non-resident Indians adding $83.0 billion to Indian bank deposits in August, before reserves fell $8.58 billion in the week to 9 October.
The week was also busy at sea and in the factory. INS Samarthak, built by Larsen & Toubro and described by the Ministry of Defence as the first major warship from an Indian private shipyard, was commissioned at Karwar on 16 October; INS Mangrol, the third anti-submarine shallow-water craft, joined the fleet in Mumbai on 12 October; and the Defence Ministry signed ₹4,106 crore of contracts for the GSAT-7C satellite and Varunastra torpedoes on 15 October. The Cabinet-approved BHAVYA scheme offered ₹33,660 crore for 100 ready-made industrial parks. PM GatiShakti marked five years with 421 projects worth ₹20.23 lakh crore vetted on its platform.
And the week had its people. The Prime Minister met India’s Asian Games contingent on 15 October — 85 medals, 38 of them won by women. The Cabinet lowered the disability-pension threshold from 80% to 40% and made the pension payable from birth. The housing mission sanctioned 1.93 lakh more urban homes, 97% of the mission’s homes being in a woman’s name. In Kochi, a container of Kerala spices left for New Zealand four days before the two countries’ trade agreement takes effect.
Numbers of the Week
NEW DELHI, 18 October 2026 — Seven figures that held the week, each with its unit and period.
- ₹52,878 crore — the price for 60.72% of IDBI Bank at ₹81 a share; by Blitz arithmetic the bid values the whole bank at about ₹87,085 crore (Ministry of Finance, 14 October 2026).
- $476.20 billion — India’s estimated exports of goods and services, April–September 2026, up 13.84% on a year earlier (Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 15 October 2026).
- 11.39% — wholesale inflation in September 2026, against 9.92% in August; fuel and power at 25.85% (Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 14 October 2026).
- 5.54% — consumer inflation in September 2026, against 4.83% in August; food at 7.74% (National Statistics Office, 12 October 2026).
- 7% — the IMF’s growth projection for India in both 2026 and 2027, against 3.1% for the world in 2026 (IMF World Economic Outlook briefing, 13 October 2026).
- $83.0 billion — net NRI deposits in Indian banks in August 2026, against $1.0 billion in August 2025 (Reserve Bank of India, 15 October 2026).
- 85 — India’s medals at the Asian Games 2026, 21 gold; 38 won by women, 44.7% by Blitz arithmetic (Prime Minister’s Office, 15 October 2026).
The Sector Diary: eighteen fields, seven days
Blitz Review | NEW DELHI, 18 October 2026 — Eighteen sectors, every week, for the seven days from 11 to 17 October. A sector in which nothing of consequence happened says so.
01 Governance and the Union Cabinet
The Union Cabinet on 14 October continued the National Social Assistance Programme as the Pradhan Mantri Samajik Sahayata Yojana with ₹53,428 crore for 2026-27 to 2030-31, and the CCEA approved the IDBI Bank sale the same day, on Rural Development and Finance Ministry releases. The Prime Minister laid foundations and opened projects worth more than ₹13,000 crore in Chennai on 11 October, announced ₹3,350 crore of works in Ladakh for inauguration by video on 15 October, and told the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi on 13 October that “reforms are not a compulsion. Reforms are our conviction,” on PMO releases.
02 Economy, GDP and public finance
CPI inflation rose to 5.54% in September (rural 6.08%, urban 4.88%), on the NSO release of 12 October. WPI inflation reached 11.39%, with crude petroleum and natural gas up 57.32% on the year, on the Commerce Ministry release of 14 October. The IMF kept India at 7% for 2026 and 2027 at its briefing in Bangkok on 13 October, where Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attended the Annual Meetings from 14 October. The Reserve Bank’s August balance of payments showed a current-account deficit of $5.2 billion and an overall surplus of $45.4 billion.
03 Markets, banking and insurance
Foreign exchange reserves stood at $726.03 billion on 9 October, down $8.58 billion in the week, on the RBI supplement of 16 October. The RBI’s measures of 10 October — a $5 million limit on hedging without proof of exposure and a 20% Foreign Exchange Risk Reserve on rupee derivative contracts above $2 million — were followed by FAQs on 15 October, and a special dollar facility for IOCL, HPCL and BPCL ran from 12 October. SEBI’s circular of 15 October sets a 3:30–3:40 pm closing auction with a random close from 7 December. The RBI sanctioned the amalgamation of Emirates NBD’s Indian branches with RBL Bank from 1 December.
04 Industry, manufacturing and MSME
The BHAVYA scheme offers up to ₹1 crore an acre for 100 plug-and-play industrial parks of 25 to 1,000 acres, with ₹33,660 crore from 2026-27 to 2031-32, on the PIB backgrounder of 14 October; Blitz arithmetic puts the average at ₹336.6 crore a park. Coir exports reached ₹6,614.40 crore in 2025-26, four times 2014-15, on the MSME Ministry release of 14 October. Khadi and village industries sales were ₹1.87 lakh crore in 2025-26, on the backgrounder of 13 October. The ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation fund was opened to the chemicals sector.
05 Trade, exports and FTAs
Exports of goods and services reached an estimated $476.20 billion in April–September and merchandise exports $259.89 billion, up 18.51%; the services surplus of $102.71 billion covered 57.8% of the goods deficit by Blitz arithmetic, on the trade release of 15 October. The 16th India–UK JETCO set a goal of doubling trade by 2030, 89 days after the trade agreement came into force, on the joint statement of 12 October. The India–New Zealand agreement enters into force on 20 October; Kerala’s first consignment left Kochi on 16 October. India and Brunei held their third Joint Trade Committee on 14 October.
06 Infrastructure, transport and urban development
The Chennai package included ₹4,900 crore for the Poonamallee–Vadapalani metro stretch and ₹3,700 crore of highways, on the PMO release of 10 October. Leh’s new airport terminal costs ₹640 crore for 35 lakh passengers a year, part of the Ladakh package that also includes a 298-km road through Shinku La. PM GatiShakti has vetted 421 projects worth ₹20.23 lakh crore in five years. The Maritime State Development Council set March 2027 for every port to be on one digital window. PMAY-U 2.0 approved 1,93,521 homes on 16 October, taking sanctions to 20.80 lakh.
07 Energy, renewables and climate
Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh and Sauj Lake in Uttar Pradesh were designated Ramsar sites, taking India to 103, on the Environment Ministry release of 15 October. Farm fires in Haryana fell 53.3% and in Uttar Pradesh by about 32% between 15 September and 12 October, against last year, on the Agriculture Ministry release of 13 October. The Prime Minister put India’s renewable capacity at about 300 GW, against about 75 GW in 2014, in his Bloomberg forum address. The Ladakh package includes the 9 MW Hanu hydro project.
08 Agriculture, rural development and cooperatives
India’s pulses import bill fell by ₹14,634 crore to ₹31,793.59 crore as production rose to 274.09 lakh tonnes, on the Agriculture Ministry backgrounder of 11 October. A committee under Professor Ramesh Chand, former Member of NITI Aayog, will examine cane prices, sugar’s minimum selling price and weighment practices, on the release of 14 October. The Multi-State Co-operative Societies (Auditor’s Report) Order, 2026 brings standardised audit reporting to societies above ₹1,000 crore. The Centre approved India’s accession to the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement, on the Fisheries Department release of 14 October. Women are 59.8% of India’s farm workers, on PLFS data for 2025 cited in a release of 14 October.
09 Health and pharmaceuticals
Hospitals have been told to display their rates, on the Health Ministry release of 12 October. Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda was to lay the foundation of ICMR’s high-altitude research centre at Keylong on 12 October, on the ministry’s release of 11 October. The Ministry of Ayush issued standard treatment guidelines for skin disorders in four systems on 13 October. The All India Institute of Ayurveda reported 37.74 lakh patients in ten years. India’s embassy in Berlin facilitated an agreement between Neovii Biotech and VINS Bioproducts on technology transfer for anti-thymocyte globulin, used in organ transplants.
10 Education, skilling and youth
PM-SETU approved ₹1,194.92 crore for five ITI clusters in Odisha, Maharashtra and Jammu & Kashmir on 16 October, taking approvals to ₹3,687 crore, after ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India took 51% in nine ITIs in Surat and Visakhapatnam on 12 October, on MSDE releases. The Railways opened 3,548 graduate posts under CEN 06/2026. Women’s labour-force participation rose to 34.6% in September and the unemployment rate held at 5.0%, on the PLFS bulletin of 15 October. Bhashini is interpreting for civil servants from nine countries at Mussoorie until 23 October.
11 Science, space and technology
The Technology Development Board committed ₹151 crore of debt to a 200-kg, 200-km cargo drone, half of a ₹302 crore project, on 14 October, and ₹86 crore to AI-discovered drug candidates on 12 October; 19 fund managers were picked to deploy ₹7,131 crore of the RDI fund. Indians used 28.39 GB of data a month per subscriber in April–June, on TRAI’s report of 12 October. IIT Madras’s brain centre plans to map more than 100 human brains. Two Andaman seabed mineral blocks of 1,632 sq km were opened for bids closing 28 December. India and the UK opened a genomics centre at the 8th Science and Innovation Council.
12 Defence and internal security
INS Samarthak, more than 75% indigenous, was commissioned at Karwar on 16 October, and INS Mangrol at Mumbai on 12 October. The Ministry of Defence signed ₹2,563 crore with NSIL for GSAT-7C and ₹1,543 crore with BDL for Varunastra torpedoes. Exercise Tarang Shakti closed at Jodhpur on 12 October with seven foreign air forces and 32 observer nations. The Indian Navy handed over command of Combined Task Force 154 in Manama on 14 October. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh offered ASEAN partners co-production of patrol vessels, radars, air defence, helicopters and drones.
13 Law, justice and Parliament
Parliament was not in session. The CAG’s performance audit of the Jal Jeevan Mission in Madhya Pradesh, Report No. 5 of 2026, found 11,94,063 private connections counted on the mission portal and seven of 28 inspected sites not working. The Maritime State Development Council asked for rules under section 77 of the Indian Ports Act, 2025 within three months. SEBI’s closing-auction circular and the RBI’s foreign-exchange directions were the week’s main regulatory instruments.
14 Social welfare, women and child, tribal affairs
The Pradhan Mantri Divyangjan Pension Yojana will cover people with 40% disability, against 80%, from birth, at ₹375 a month and ₹625 from age 80, with 100% central funding intended, on the Cabinet release of 14 October. Of 20.80 lakh PMAY-U 2.0 homes, 20.16 lakh are in a woman’s name. Women’s farmers’ day was marked in New Delhi on 15 October. The Asian Games squad’s women won 38 of 85 medals.
15 The States and the North East
In the North East, banks lend ₹47 for every ₹100 deposited, on the DoNER Ministry release of 13 October. Ladakh’s package includes a third road link and a new Leh terminal. Uttar Pradesh (73,182) and Bihar (52,866) took 65.1% of the week’s urban-housing approvals. Gaya topped the Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana district rankings.
16 Culture, heritage and tourism
The Ladakh package includes a petroglyph park at the Indus ghat, on the PMO release of 14 October. The Ministry of Culture announced the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar for 2024 and 2025, to be presented in New Delhi on 19 October. No other significant development this week.
17 Sport
The Prime Minister met the Asian Games contingent on 15 October: 85 medals, 21 gold, the women’s hockey title after 44 years and weightlifting’s first medal in 28 years. The Services won 27 of the 85, on the Defence Ministry release of 12 October. The women’s kabaddi team, which beat Iran 37–34 in the final, was felicitated at Rail Bhawan on 16 October.
18 India and the world
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on 13 October and will visit Canada in December, with both sides seeking a trade agreement and a doubling of trade by 2030; Foreign Minister Anita Anand met him on 14 October, on PMO releases and the Canadian readout. India opened its mission in San José, Costa Rica, on 10 October, and Minister of State Pabitra Margherita is visiting Samoa, the Cook Islands and Nauru from 16 to 22 October, on MEA releases. Sudhakar Dalela was named Ambassador to Nepal. Finance Minister Sitharaman told the World Bank’s Development Committee in Bangkok that the measure of success is jobs.
Big Read: IDBI Bank’s buyer pays ₹81
Blitz Research
Four years after the sale was announced, a Fairfax unit wins 60.72% of IDBI Bank for ₹52,878 crore. The price beat the independent valuation and nearly doubled the share price at the start.
NEW DELHI, 18 October 2026 — On 7 October 2022, the day before the Government invited bidders for IDBI Bank, the share traded at ₹42.40. On 14 October 2026 the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs accepted ₹81 a share from 10955230 Canada Inc., a unit of Fairfax Financial Holdings, for 60.72% of the bank, the Ministry of Finance said in its release of that day. The consideration is ₹52,878.08 crore.
No photograph — do not fill this slot: a Cabinet committee decision has no event to photograph and neither the release nor its FAQ carries a picture; the Blitz Data Card below runs here.
Two rounds to a price
The road was not straight. Five parties expressed interest; four qualified; two submitted bids. In 2025-26 the initial bids came in at ₹75 against a reserve price of ₹94.42 and were rejected. The market price then fell — to ₹70.38 on 18 May 2026 — and the Government invited sealed best offers from the two qualified bidders. Two independent valuers put fair value at an average of ₹75.99. The winning offer of ₹81 was above both, the ministry says, and was approved.
The Government sells 30.48% and LIC 30.24%. After the sale the Government will hold 15% and LIC 19%. By Blitz arithmetic, the bid values the whole bank at about ₹87,085 crore; the Government’s share of the proceeds is about ₹26,543 crore and LIC’s about ₹26,335 crore.
What is still to come
The buyer cleared the Reserve Bank’s “fit and proper” test and security clearance at the expression-of-interest stage. It must still present itself to the RBI and submit a roadmap to meet the regulator’s conditions. The release gives no closing date.
The bank has come a long way to get here. It was placed under the RBI’s Prompt Corrective Action framework on 5 May 2017 and came out of it on 10 March 2021, the ministry notes. A bank that needed corrective supervision five years ago has drawn a foreign buyer at a price above independent fair value.
Why It Matters
What India gains: once completed, the ministry says, this will be the largest foreign direct investment in India’s financial sector so far. A global insurer-investor puts long-term capital into an Indian bank, the Government and LIC keep minority stakes that can gain from any improvement, and the price was set by competitive bidding against an independent benchmark.
Blitz View
The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management could publish, at closing, a short public account of the IDBI sale — timeline, bidders, valuations and the conditions set by the RBI — so that the next strategic sale starts from a known template.
Blitz Desk
NEW DELHI, 18 October 2026 — What to watch from 18 October.
- 19 October — The Minister of Culture presents the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar for 2024 and 2025 in New Delhi (Ministry of Culture, 16 October 2026).
- 20 October — The India–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement enters into force, with duty-free access for Indian exports (DGFT Kochi, 16 October 2026).
- To 22 October — Minister of State Pabitra Margherita in Samoa, the Cook Islands and Nauru (MEA, 13 October 2026).
- To 23 October — Bhashini’s interpreting at the National Centre for Good Governance programme for nine countries (MeitY, 13 October 2026).
- 4 November — Pre-bid meeting for the two Andaman offshore mineral blocks; bids close 28 December (Ministry of Mines, 13 October 2026).
- 6 November — Last date for the Railways’ 3,548 graduate posts under CEN 06/2026 (Ministry of Railways, 11 October 2026).
