MUMBAI:
Kotak Mahindra Bank
announced today that the
Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) has approved the appointment of
C S Rajan
, Independent Director of the Bank, as the Part-time Chairman. The approval is effective from 1st January 2024, marking a two-year tenure.
The decision to appoint Rajan as the next Part-time Chairman follows the retirement of the outgoing Chairman, Prakash Apte, whose term concludes on 31st December 2023.
Rajan has over 40 years of experience in various government portfolios. He assumed the role of Independent Director on the Bank's Board on 22nd October 2022. A retired IAS officer of the 1978 batch, Rajan held significant roles in key infrastructure sectors, including Energy, Highways, Water Resources, Industry, SSI/MSME, Agriculture, and Rural Development. He is also chairman of the government appointed board of the IL&FS.
His experience encompasses leadership in Human Resources, Finance, and General Administration, along with contributions to World Bank projects and consultations.
Apte, the outgoing Non-Executive Independent Part-Time Chairman, commented on Rajan's appointment, stating, "We are pleased to announce that RBI has approved the appointment of C S Rajan as the next Chairman of Kotak Mahindra Bank. His expertise across sectors vital to India’s future will bring a fresh perspective to the deliberations and contribute to the Bank’s growth."
Rajan takes charge at a time when the bank is seeing complete change in top managmwnt. Dipak Gupta, Managing Director & CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, who took charge after founder CEO
Uday Kotak
stepped down in October, will complete his term in December. Ashok Vaswani a veteran banker with Citi and Barclays will take charge as CEO on January 1, 2024.