Kotak Mahindra Bank Names Anup Kumar Saha as Next MD & CEO; Secures RBI Approval

Kotak Mahindra Bank announced on Thursday that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of Anup Kumar Saha as its next Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer for a three-year term beginning January 1, 2027.

Saha, currently serving as a Whole-Time Director and Executive Director at Kotak, will succeed Ashok Vaswani, who has helmed the bank since January 2024. The bank stated that its board of directors will proceed with the required formalities to formalise the leadership transition and seek shareholder approval in accordance with regulatory guidelines.

The central bank’s clearance concludes the succession planning process at India’s fourth-largest private lender. Kotak Mahindra Bank had submitted two internal candidates to the banking regulator in order of preference: Saha as its primary recommendation, alongside Paritosh Kashyap, Executive Director and Head of Wholesale Banking.

Saha joined Kotak Mahindra Bank in January 2026 and was elevated to the board as a Whole-Time Director in March 2026, where he has overseen the Retail Bank, Government Business, Data Analytics, and Marketing verticals.

A veteran of Indian retail banking, Saha brings over 32 years of industry experience, including more than 25 years in financial services. He spent over seven years in senior leadership positions, including Deputy Managing Director, driving retail asset books, rural lending networks, and digital customer acquisition at Bajaj Finance.

Worked for 14 years across senior roles at ICICI Bank, serving as Senior General Manager and Group Product Head across home loans, automobile finance, credit cards, and collections.

Saha holds an engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow.