Anup Kumar Saha is the new Managing Director and CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank. The Reserve Bank of India approved his appointment on September 30, 2026, and he will take charge on January 1, 2027, for a term of three years. Saha replaces Ashok Vaswani, who has decided not to seek reappointment when his current term ends on December 31, 2026.
Saha is not new to the bank. He joined Kotak Mahindra Bank in January 2026 as an Executive Director and currently runs its retail banking business. Before that, he spent more than 22 years at ICICI Bank and Bajaj Finance, where he briefly served as Managing Director in 2025.
Kotak Mahindra Bank New CEO: Key Details
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| New MD and CEO | Anup Kumar Saha |
| RBI approval | September 30, 2026 |
| Takes charge | January 1, 2027 |
| Tenure | 3 years (till December 2029) |
| Replaces | Ashok Vaswani |
| Current role at Kotak | Executive Director (Whole-time Director) |
| Joined Kotak | January 2026 |
| Pending step | Shareholder approval |
Who Is Anup Kumar Saha?
Anup Kumar Saha is a banker with more than 32 years of work experience, of which 25 years have been in financial services. He is best known for building large consumer lending businesses, first at ICICI Bank and later at Bajaj Finance, one of India’s biggest non-banking finance companies.
His strengths lie in retail lending, consumer finance, credit cards, collections and the use of data and analytics in banking. That background matches the role he has been handling at Kotak since March 2026, where he oversees the retail bank, government business, data analytics and marketing.
Anup Kumar Saha Profile at a Glance
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full name | Anup Kumar Saha |
| Profession | Banker |
| Current role | Executive Director, Kotak Mahindra Bank |
| Next role | MD and CEO, Kotak Mahindra Bank (from January 1, 2027) |
| Engineering | B.Tech, IIT Kharagpur |
| Management | MBA, IIM Lucknow |
| Total experience | 32+ years |
| Financial services experience | 25 years |
| Previous employers | Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, GE Capital, BHEL |
| Nationality | Indian |
Anup Kumar Saha Education
Saha is an engineer by training. He completed his B.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, one of the oldest IITs in the country. He later earned an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow, which led him from engineering into finance.
Anup Kumar Saha Career Timeline
| Years | Organisation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 to 1995 | Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) | Production engineering |
| 1999 to 2003 | GE Capital | Credit cards, sales and analytics |
| May 2003 to June 2017 | ICICI Bank | Senior roles in retail lending, credit cards and collections |
| October 2017 to January 2026 | Bajaj Finance | President (Consumer Finance), later MD and CEO (April to July 2025) |
| January 2026 onwards | Kotak Mahindra Bank | Executive Director |
| From January 1, 2027 | Kotak Mahindra Bank | MD and CEO |
Early Career at BHEL and GE Capital
Saha started his career in 1991 at Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL), the state-run engineering company, where he worked in production engineering until 1995. After his MBA, he moved into financial services and joined GE Capital in 1999. At GE Capital, he worked across credit cards, sales and analytics until 2003.
14 Years at ICICI Bank
In May 2003, Saha joined ICICI Bank and stayed for 14 years, until June 2017. He held several senior positions, including Senior General Manager, and worked across retail secured assets, business intelligence, retail and rural collections, credit cards and retail structured finance. This period built his reputation as a retail banking specialist.
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Bajaj Finance: From President to Managing Director
Saha moved to Bajaj Finance in October 2017. He held senior roles there, including President of Consumer Finance, and played a key part in growing the company’s consumer lending business. In April 2025, he was elevated to Managing Director.
His stint as MD was short. On July 21, 2025, around four months after taking charge, Saha resigned as Managing Director of Bajaj Finance, citing personal reasons. Rajeev Jain, the company’s Vice Chairman, was reappointed as Managing Director till March 2028. As per Kotak’s disclosure, Saha’s association with Bajaj Finance formally ended in January 2026.
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Joining Kotak Mahindra Bank
On January 12, 2026, Kotak Mahindra Bank announced Saha’s appointment as an Additional Director and Whole-time Director for three years. Since March 2026, he has been in charge of the retail bank, government business, data analytics and marketing. Less than a year later, he has been chosen to lead the entire bank.
Why Ashok Vaswani Is Leaving
Ashok Vaswani became MD and CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank on January 1, 2024, after founder Uday Kotak stepped down in September 2023 and Joint MD Dipak Gupta held the post on an interim basis. Vaswani came from global banking, with about 20 years at Citigroup and a senior leadership role at Barclays, where he headed its consumer, private, corporate and payments businesses.
His three-year term ends on December 31, 2026. Vaswani has decided not to seek reappointment, citing personal reasons. Speaking about his successor, Vaswani said Saha “will strengthen the bank’s foundations, deepen customer relationships and guide its progress with purpose.”
Kotak’s Chairman C.S. Rajan said, “We look forward to Anup’s leadership in strengthening the franchise.”
What Anup Kumar Saha Said
Saha has said his focus as CEO will be on deepening customer relationships, improving execution and creating sustainable value for shareholders. With his background in retail lending and analytics, the bank’s consumer business is expected to stay at the centre of his plans.
Kotak Mahindra Bank Share Price Reaction
The market welcomed the news. On October 1, 2026, Kotak Mahindra Bank shares rose about 4% in morning trade and touched an eight-month high, their highest level since February 10, 2026.
Brokerages also reacted positively. Nomura kept its Buy rating and said that with Saha as the internal choice, “the succession path is already substantially de-risked” and the CEO change “is unlikely to alter Kotak’s strategic direction.” It pointed to his consumer finance experience and digital execution skills.
Jefferies noted that Vaswani’s exit had surprised investors and said that “succession quality and leadership stability would remain key drivers of the bank’s growth and valuation rerating.”
What Saha’s Appointment Means for Kotak Mahindra Bank
The choice of an internal candidate gives the bank continuity. Saha has already spent most of 2026 running Kotak’s largest customer-facing business, so the handover from Vaswani is expected to be smooth.
His experience at Bajaj Finance, known for fast and data-driven consumer lending, suggests a stronger push in retail loans, cross-selling and digital products. At the same time, his years at ICICI Bank give him a deep understanding of how a large private bank works, from collections to risk.
Kotak Mahindra Bank CEO List
| CEO | Period |
|---|---|
| Uday Kotak | Founder; MD and CEO from 2003, when Kotak became a bank, till September 1, 2023 |
| Dipak Gupta | Interim MD and CEO, September to December 2023 |
| Ashok Vaswani | January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2026 |
| Anup Kumar Saha | From January 1, 2027 |
Anup Kumar Saha Age, Family and Personal Life
Details such as Saha’s exact date of birth, family and net worth have not been publicly disclosed. Based on his career, which began at BHEL in 1991 after his engineering degree, he is likely in his late 50s. His salary as CEO will be disclosed by the bank after the board and shareholders approve the terms of his appointment.