MUMBAI: Uday Kotak, managing director and chief executive officer of Kotak Mahindra Bank will continue as a non-executive board member and strategic shareholder after he steps down from the whole-time role. The veteran banker, who launched Kotak Mahindra Finance with three people and a 300 square feet office in 1985, is set to retire as MD & CEO of the bank in December 2023. “Going forward, I see my role as a non-executive board governance member and a strategic shareholder with a long-term perspective of nurturing a world-class institution,” Kotak said in a letter to shareholders.
“It is unusual in today’s world of banking anywhere to have an individual with 26% skin in the game with disproportionate family assets in one stock, emotionally attached to living his dream of making India proud,” he added. Kotak Mahindra Bank has created value for stakeholders and provided 100,000 direct jobs and a multiple of that in indirect jobs. Also, an investor who invested Rs 10,000 with us in 1985 would be worth Rs 300 crore today, said Kotak.
Looking back at his professional journey he said that the group is a product of India’s growth story. “We were at the right place at the right time. We are a quintessential product of the India growth story and the financial sector evolution,” he said. He also cautioned against the bureaucratisation of financial services in India.
“I feel the financial sector players risk becoming more robotic, curbing the entrepreneurial flair since the fear of making a mistake overrides the joy of creation and development. While we need ‘Arjuna’s eye’ on risk management, we must prevent bureaucratisation of financial services,” He said that the financial sector needs significant capacity building to meet the aspiration of making India a $ 30 trillion economy by 2047.
The banker said the regulatory environment must be bold to let entrepreneurship thrive while also maintaining a supportive policy framework. “We must avoid a mindset that we want accident-free roads hence we will restrict cars. Instead, to take this analogy further, we need more roads, more cars and better signals and traffic regulations,” he said.