RBI approves appointment of CS Rajan as part-time chairman of Kotak Mahindra Bank

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of CS Rajan as the part-time chairman of Kotak Mahindra Bank. The appointment, effective from January 1, 2024, is for a period of two years.

CS Rajan's appointment as part-time chairman of the bank comes as the incumbent part-time chairman Prakash Apte's tenure comes to an end on December 31.

CS Rajan, who was appointed as Independent Director on the board of Kotak Mahindra on October 22, 2022, has over 40 years of experience in government portfolios. He served as an IAS officer (1978 batch) and retired as Chief Secretary of the Rajasthan government 2016.

The veteran, who served in leadership roles for 12 years in sectors including energy, highways, water resources and industry including MSME, also worked in agriculture and rural development for 14 years.

In his 38 years of service as IAS, CS Rajan was also involved in the fields of human resources, finance and general administration.

After his retirement from active service in 2016, CS Rajan served as Deputy Chairman in the Chief Ministers’ Advisory Council of Rajasthan for two and half years, after which he was appointed by the government to the board of Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Limited (IL&FS) initially as director and then managing director for three and half years. He was then appointed chairman and managing director for a year, after which he has been serving as the non-executive director of IL&FS.

Prakash Apte, outgoing part-time chairman, said that CS Rajan’s expertise across sectors will bring a fresh perspective to the deliberations and contribute to the bank’s growth.

Dipak Gupta, Managing Director & CEO, Kotak Mahindra Bank said, “We thank Mr Prakash Apte for his contribution to the bank, first as an independent director and subsequently as the chairman of the bank’s board. We would like to congratulate Mr CS Rajan on his appointment as chairman of the bank’s board. We are confident that the bank will benefit immensely from Mr Rajan’s guidance for its next phase of growth.”

Meanwhile, shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank settled 0.86 per cent higher at Rs 1,902.60. The stock has climbed 4.20 per cent in 2023, underperforming the benchmark BSE Sensex's 17.77 per cent rise over the same period.

Also read: Jay Kotak assumes additional role of senior VP at Kotak Mahindra Bank