- Wednesday, March 26, 2025
The early exit of the 64-year-old Kotak from the country’s fourth-largest bank is due to personal reasons, the bank said, according to a report.
By: Shubham Ghosh
UDAY KOTAK, who founded India’s Kotak Mahindra Bank, has stepped down as its managing director (MD) and chief executive four months ahead of the completion of his term, the lender said in a stock exchange filing on Saturday (2).
The early exit of the 64-year-old Kotak from the country’s fourth-largest bank is due to personal reasons, the bank said, Reuters reported.
However, according to analysts, it will quell concerns that the veteran billionaire banker’s presence will loom large over his successor, the report added.
The lender also said that Dipak Gupta, who is currently the bank’s joint MD, will carry out the duties of the chief executive till December 31 this year, the bank said.
“I have mulled over this decision for some time and believe it is the right thing for the institution,” Kotak wrote in a letter sent to India’s exchanges, it was reported.
“I thought it appropriate to hand over the baton and stagger the transition,” he added.
Kotak Mahindra Bank has already applied for the new MD to India’s central bank, it said in its exchange notifications.
Top posts at lenders in India are approved by the Reserve Bank of India, which regulates the banks.
“If the new chief executive is from outside the bank, the transition would require a lot of hand-holding,” Amit Tandon, chief executive of Mumbai-based proxy advisory firm Institutional Investor Advisory Services was quoted as saying by Reuters.
“However if the bank has chosen an internal candidate then the transition could be much more smoother,” he added.
Kotak posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that “founders go away, but the institution flourishes into perpetuity”.
He also said that he would stay on the bank’s board as a non-executive director and key shareholder.
Anand Dama, a banking analyst with brokerage firm Emkay Global Financial Services, Mumbai, said while Kotak’s early departure was a surprise, the application for his replacement’s approval suggested that the bank already had an internal candidate.
