Uday Kotak
The founder of Kotak Mahindra Bank, the first finance company in India to win a banking licence, honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2026.
Uday Kotak started a small finance company in 1985 and built it into one of India’s biggest private banks. In 2026 he was named for the Padma Bhushan in the field of trade and industry, from Maharashtra [1].
From finance company to bank
Kotak was born on 15 March 1959 [2]. In 1985 he founded Kotak Mahindra Finance with modest capital, and it grew into investment banking, broking, insurance, car finance and mutual funds [2]. In March 2003 it became Kotak Mahindra Bank, the first non-banking finance company in India to get a banking licence from the RBI [2]. The bank bought ING Vysya Bank in 2014 [2]. Kotak was its managing director and CEO until 2023, and stayed on as a non-executive director [2].
Public roles
From 2018 to 2022 the government made him non-executive chairman of a new board for IL&FS, to steer the troubled lender out of crisis [2]. In 2017 he led a SEBI committee on corporate governance, whose recommendations pushed for more transparent company boards [2]. He was president of the CII in 2020–21 [2].
His Kotak Education Foundation works with poor communities on education and livelihoods [2]. He was named EY World Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014 [2].
Sources
- [1] Padma Awards 2026: list of awardees — Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Accessed 11 October 2026.
- [2] Padma Awards 2026 investiture ceremony brochure: citation for Uday Kotak — Press Information Bureau, Government of India. Accessed 12 October 2026.
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