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Informist, Saturday, Jul. 18, 2026

 

--Kotak Bank: Will do our best to mobilise FCNR(B) deposit

--Kotak Bank MD: Stepping away for personal reasons

--Kotak Bank: No sign of stress on industry due to West Asia situation

 

NEW DELHI – Kotak Mahindra Bank sees the Reserve Bank of India's measures to attract foreign currency non-resident bank deposits into the country as an "interesting opportunity" and said it will do its best to mobilise deposits through this route. The private-sector lender also sees "very strong" customer demand for the FCNR(B) deposit scheme, the management said in a post-earnings briefing Saturday. The bank did not disclose the quantum of deposits received so far.

 

"We will give it our best," the senior management said. "The NRI (non-resident Indian) customer demand is very strong because it is such an attractive opportunity. It is our ability to kind of get the supply side done which is going to make the difference. We feel pretty reasonably good about it, and we will see how it, kind of, pans out over the next month or two."

 

On Jun. 8, the central bank announced measures to bear the full hedging costs of banks raising fresh three- to five-year FCNR(B) deposits by Sept. 30. This helped the banks to attract more foreign currency deposits by raising their FCNR(B) deposit rates.

 

The management said the bank will mobilise FCNR(B) deposits through its branches in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City in Gandhinagar and Dubai International Financial Centre in the United Arab Emirates. "We will partner with banks in Asia and the Middle East and other parts of the world to try and enhance our proposition," they said.

 

On the bank's target for FCNR(B) deposits, the management said, "It is early days as yet, and we do not really talk about goals other than internally." Without detailing the quantum, the senior management said it will "offer leverage on deposits of certain sizes". The leverage will depend on the partner banks, the management said. "It depends upon our capabilities and our raw material availability in GIFT and DIFC. Those things are kind of being worked through."

 

Earlier in the day, the private-sector bank detailed its June quarter earnings. The bank's net profit for the June quarter rose over 26% on year to INR 41.23 billion. The growth in Kotak Mahindra Bank's net profit was at a two-year high, mainly because of a rise in interest income and fall in provisions. Sequentially, the lender's bottom line inched up over 2%. The bank's net interest income rose to INR 79.28 billion in Apr-Jun from INR 72.59 billion in the year-ago period.

 

Kotak Mahindra Bank's total deposits were up 12% on year at INR 5.73 trillion as of Jun. 30. The management said, "You can add some amount (of the total deposits) to FCNR (deposits)."

 

The bank, which currently has "relatively short tenor" deposit book, aims to strengthen the same with the help of FCNR(B) deposits. "This will effectively help us elongate our deposit book to some extent and create a greater degree of stability, which is something that we were desirous of doing in any case," the senior management said.

 

Asked about the impact of the West Asia war, the management said the situation is "very fluid" with a sudden shift from war to ceasefire mode and vice versa. This is affecting the movement of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and disrupting the supply chain, also leading to inflation. "We are hoping it is not going to be severe and are constantly very closely monitoring all our portfolios to see if we can see any sign of stress," it said. "As of now, we are seeing no sign of stress. And we are cautious."

 

Among the senior management addressing the media was Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Ashok Vaswani, who was asked about his decision to step down from the post when his term ends in December. He said, "At a personal front, I became a grandfather. My daughter is in San Francisco... daughter calling made it all the more compelling."

 

Further, Vaswani said, "From a timeline perspective, there are clear regulatory guidelines. And the board and the NRC (Nomination and Remuneration Committee) are very conscious of the guidelines and will make the applications entirely in line with those timelines." Last month, the bank had informed the exchanges that Vaswani does not wish to seek reappointment upon completion of his term on Dec. 31. The bank's board, respecting his decision, has initiated the process of finding his successor, the lender had said.

 

Friday, shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank ended at INR 389.95 on the National Stock Exchange, up 3.4% from Thursday.  End

 

Reported by Shweta, Pratiksha, and J. Navya Sruthi

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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