Key facts
- Kotak Mahindra Bank has recommended Anup Saha and Paritosh Kashyap to the RBI for the MD and CEO positions.
- Anup Saha heads retail banking and joined Kotak in January 2026.
- Paritosh Kashyap leads wholesale banking and has 31 years of experience with Kotak.
- The RBI will decide on the candidates before Ashok Vaswani's term ends on December 31, 2026.
- Ashok Vaswani succeeded founder Uday Kotak as CEO on January 1, 2024.
Kotak Mahindra Bank has put forward two of its senior executives, Anup Saha and Paritosh Kashyap, to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the role of Managing Director and CEO. The RBI will review these internal candidates as part of the succession plan for Ashok Vaswani, whose term concludes on December 31, 2026.
Anup Saha, currently heading the bank's retail banking business and serving as a Whole-time Director, joined Kotak Mahindra Bank in January 2026. His prior experience includes leadership roles at Bajaj Finance and ICICI Bank. Paritosh Kashyap, also a Whole-time Director, leads the wholesale banking division and brings approximately 31 years of experience within the Kotak Group, with expertise in corporate banking, structured finance, and capital structuring.
The RBI's decision will be pivotal in determining whether the bank proceeds with an internal successor and which of the two executives will ultimately assume leadership. Vaswani, who took over as CEO on January 1, 2024, succeeding founder Uday Kotak, will not seek reappointment after his current tenure.
The incoming CEO will inherit a bank focused on accelerating growth, leveraging its surplus capital, and enhancing its technology and artificial intelligence capabilities, particularly following the lifting of RBI technology-related restrictions in February 2025. In the first quarter of fiscal year 2027, Kotak Mahindra Bank reported a 15% year-on-year increase in net advances and a 12% rise in deposits.