Who is Anup Kumar Saha, the banker set to lead Kotak Mahindra Bank next?
Anup Kumar Saha is set to become the next CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, the bank said on Thursday. He would be succeeding Ashok Vaswani, whose term ends next year.
Saha has been appointed for a three-year term.
India’s fourth-largest private bank had recommended the names of executive directors Anup Saha and Paritosh Kashyap for the post to the Reserve Bank of India last month for approval. Following the central government nod, Saha has been selected for the post.
Under banking rules, banks must propose at least two candidates for the CEO post, from whom the regulator selects and approves one.
Kotak Mahindra Bank, under the leadership of Vaswani, had set its sights on becoming India’s third-largest private lender by after-tax profit. The new CEO is expected to accelerate that growth momentum.
Who Is Anup Kumar Saha?
Saha joined Kotak in January this year and, since March 2026, he has been overseeing the retail bank, government business, data analytics and marketing functions.
He is currently working as a whole-time director (executive director) at Kotak
He has more than 32 years of professional experience, including 25 years in banking and financial services.
Before joining Kotak Mahindra Bank, Saha worked at Bajaj Finance for seven years. He became managing director & CEO of Bajaj Finance in April 2025 and resigned from the position in July 2025.
Prior to Bajaj Finance, Saha worked at ICICI Bank from May 2003 to June 2017, a total of 14 years. There, he worked in retail secured assets, business intelligence, retail and rural collections, credit cards and retail structured finance.
Prior to that, Saha worked with GE Capital in credit cards, sales and analytics and with Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) in production engineering.
Saha holds a B.Tech degree in Engineering from IIT Kharagpur and an MBA from IIM Lucknow.
What Kotak said about Saha
C S Rajan, Chairman of the Board of Kotak Mahindra Bank, said earlier that Saha brings extensive experience across banking and financial services and has already been closely involved with the bank’s businesses in his current role.
“We welcome the Reserve Bank of India’s approval. Anup brings with him extensive experience across banking and financial services and has already been actively engaged with the Bank’s businesses in his current role. As the Bank continues to build on its strong foundations we look forward to Anup’s leadership in strengthening the franchise and in pursuing sustainable growth. On behalf of the Board, I wish Anup every success in leading Kotak into its next phase of growth,” said Rajan.
