Anup Bagchi to head HDFC Bank, Anup Kumar Saha to lead Kotak Bank
Why in the news
On 1 October 2026, two large private lenders got new chiefs cleared by the Reserve Bank of India: Anup Bagchi for HDFC Bank and Anup Kumar Saha for Kotak Mahindra Bank.
Key facts
| Detail | HDFC Bank | Kotak Mahindra Bank |
|---|---|---|
| New MD & CEO | Anup Bagchi | Anup Kumar Saha |
| Takes charge | 27 October 2026 | 1 January 2027 |
| Term | 3 years | 3 years |
| Succeeds | Sashidhar Jagdishan (term ends 26 October 2026) | Ashok Vaswani (term ends 31 December 2026) |
- RBI approval: both appointments were cleared on 1 October 2026.
- Jagdishan had told the HDFC Bank board in August that he would not seek another term.
About Anup Bagchi
An IIT Kanpur engineer with an MBA from IIM Bangalore, Bagchi has over 30 years in banking, capital markets, wealth management and insurance. He has been MD & CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance since June 2023, and earlier was an Executive Director of ICICI Bank (2017-2023) and MD & CEO of ICICI Securities.
About Anup Kumar Saha
Saha holds a B.Tech from IIT Kharagpur and an MBA from IIM Lucknow. He joined Kotak Mahindra Bank in January 2026 and became an Executive Director in March 2026. He spent nearly nine years at Bajaj Finance, where he was MD & CEO from April to July 2025, and 14 years at ICICI Bank.
Exam angle
- HDFC Bank: Anup Bagchi replaces Sashidhar Jagdishan.
- Kotak Mahindra Bank: Anup Kumar Saha replaces Ashok Vaswani.
- Appointment of a private bank’s MD & CEO needs RBI approval.