The government has received preliminary bids for a majority stake in IDBI Bank. 

While no names have been disclosed, the buzz is that a consortium, two foreign banks and a private equity firm are among those who have made the preliminary bid.

Earlier, it was reported by media that Canada-based Fairfax Group, Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui, Carlyle Group and JC Flowers had evinced interest in the bank.

"Multiple expressions of interest received for the strategic disinvestment of Govt and LIC stake in IDBI Bank," Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said in a tweet on Saturday, after the deadline for EoI closed earlier in the day.

With the bids in, the sale will now move to the next stage where bidders will conduct due diligence before submitting their final financial bids.

The government is looking to divest a 30.48% stake in the lender and state-owned Life Insurance Corp of India (LIC) will sell 30.24% of its holding of 49.24% in the bank. The government owns 45.48% of IDBI Bank.

Earlier in the week, market regulator SEBI allowed the government to reclassify its shareholding in IDBI Bank as "public" post sale. This will make it easier for the new buyer to meet the minimum public shareholding norm.

India's finance ministry on Monday also extended an exemption to the new buyer of IDBI Bank that allows it to maintain a 25% minimum public shareholding in the lender.

The time limit to increase the public shareholding in the lender would be specified in due course, the government said.

Foreign banks, funds and investment vehicles incorporated outside India are allowed to bid for IDBI Bank.

A successful sale of IDBI Bank to a private buyer would set the stage for more such deals in the coming years.