Kotak Bank gets RBI nod to elevate ED Anup Kumar Saha to CEO post

MUMBAI: RBI has approved Anup Kumar Saha’s appointment as managing director & CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank for three years from Jan 1, 2027, with the bank’s board set to formalise the appointment and seek shareholders’ approval.Saha is currently whole-time director (executive director) at Kotak. He joined the bank in Jan 2026 and has overseen the retail bank, data analytics and marketing functions since March. Before joining Kotak, he held senior leadership roles at Bajaj Finance, culminating in his appointment as MD & CEO.C S Rajan, chairman, Kotak Mahindra Bank, said the bank looks forward to Saha's leadership in strengthening the franchise and in pursuing sustainable growth.Ashok Vaswani, managing director & CEO, Kotak Bank,who had announced his decision to step down after his term ends in December said Saha has experience across businesses, customer segments and operating functions. “Since joining Kotak, he has worked closely with our teams and demonstrated a clear understanding of the opportunities ahead,” he said.Saha said he was grateful to the board for the trust placed in him and looked forward to leading the bank. “I look forward to working with my colleagues to deepen customer relationships, tirelessly execute and build sustainable value for shareholders and all our stakeholders. We will remain firmly focused on doing the right thing and getting it right by the customer,” he said.Saha has over 32 years of professional experience, including 25 years in financial services across banking and non-banking financial institutions.During 14 years at ICICI Bank, Saha led businesses and functions spanning retail secured assets, business intelligence, retail and rural collections, credit cards and retail structured finance. Earlier, he worked with GE Capital across credit cards, sales and analytics and with Bharat Heavy Electricals in production engineering.Saha holds a BTech in engineering from IIT Kharagpur and an MBA from IIM Lucknow. As of June 30, 2026, Kotak Mahindra Group had 5,916 branches and a consolidated balance sheet of Rs 10.1 lakh crore.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.