A Canadian billionaire born in India is about to take charge of one of the country's oldest government banks.
Prem Watsa's Fairfax Financial Holdings will acquire a 60.72% controlling stake in IDBI Bank for ₹52,878 crore, or roughly $5.6 billion, after India's Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the deal on October 14, 2026. The Prem Watsa IDBI Bank deal stands as one of the largest foreign investments ever made in India's financial-services sector.
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Cabinet Clears the Path for Fairfax's Biggest Indian Bet
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Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had given its approval for the strategic sale of IDBI Bank to an arm of Fairfax Group. The government and Life Insurance Corporation of India will together hold onto a 34% stake in the bank even after Fairfax takes control, so this is not a complete government exit.
The size of the transaction puts it in rare company. At $5.6 billion, it ranks among the biggest foreign direct investments India's banking sector has ever seen. Reports describe it as the country's biggest bank deal involving a foreign buyer, and it instantly makes Watsa one of the most powerful private players in Indian banking.
The final shape of the ownership structure still depends on regulatory sign-off. Because Fairfax already holds a significant piece of another Indian bank, the IDBI approval opens up a separate question that regulators and Fairfax will now have to sort out together.
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Fairfax's Long Run-Up to This Indian Banking Prize
Watsa did not arrive at this deal overnight. Fairfax India Holdings Corporation was set up in 2014, and by January 2015 the group had raised close to $1 billion specifically to invest in Indian businesses for the long haul. That fund became the base for a string of bets across very different industries.
The group's first big Indian move was in travel, where it picked up a 77% stake in Thomas Cook India, later trimmed to 68%. From there, Fairfax moved into infrastructure, buying into Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport and eventually lifting its stake from 64% to 74% after buying an additional 10% from Siemens for $255 million.
Banking came next. In 2018, the Reserve Bank of India cleared Fairfax to acquire up to 51% of CSB Bank, formerly known as Catholic Syrian Bank. That approval made CSB the first Indian bank to fall under majority foreign ownership, a milestone that quietly set the stage for what Fairfax is attempting now with IDBI. Fairfax currently owns about 40% of CSB Bank, a fact that now sits at the center of how the IDBI deal gets finalized.
A Portfolio Already Tilted Toward Financial Services
Fairfax India's investment book already leans heavily on finance. Of its 13 investments, five sit in the banking, financial-services and insurance category, making up 29% of the portfolio even before the IDBI purchase is finalized. Add IDBI to that mix, and the group's exposure to Indian financial services grows sharply larger.
The pattern has continued into this year. In May 2026, Fairfax India agreed to raise its stake in IIFL Capital Services to 51% through a $211 million investment. On the insurance side, Fairfax-linked FAL Corporation is set to hold 57.28% of Go Digit General Insurance following a merger that the Competition Commission of India has already cleared.
As of June 30, 2026, Fairfax India reported total assets of $3.76 billion and total equity of $2.94 billion, figures that put the scale of the IDBI purchase into sharp perspective. The IDBI price tag alone is larger than the fund's entire reported asset base, which shows just how aggressively Watsa is now betting on India.
What Happens to Fairfax's Existing Bank Stake
The most immediate unresolved issue is what happens to Fairfax's existing 40% stake in CSB Bank now that it is set to control IDBI as well. According to reporting from Economic Times BFSI, Fairfax has two realistic options on the table. It can sell its CSB holding outright, or it can pursue a merger between CSB and IDBI Bank.
Either path will require clearance from the Reserve Bank of India and the Securities and Exchange Board of India, since rules around bank ownership and mergers are tightly controlled in India. Until that decision is made public, the final structure of Fairfax's Indian banking empire remains only partly drawn.
Watsa's India Bet Keeps Getting Bigger
Watsa, who turned 75 this year, built his reputation running Fairfax Financial Holdings out of Toronto, earning comparisons to Warren Buffett along the way. He has called India the best place to invest in the future, a line that fits the pattern of steady, large bets he has placed in the country since 2014.
Fairfax has already put close to $7 billion into India across airports, travel, insurance, capital markets and banking. Reports suggest the group is planning to invest another $5 billion in the country over the next five years, which would make the IDBI acquisition less of an endpoint and more of a stepping stone toward an even larger footprint in Indian finance.
