Uday Kotak: Finance is the catalyst

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Kotak Mahindra is a story of evolution. It started out in 1985 as a leasing and broking business, becoming an investment bank in the 2000s and eventually what they call internally ‘bank plus’, a full-service institution.

“We saw a very significant opportunity as India’s economy evolved over the last 30 years, and there was a deep belief that the financial sector in India would go through its own evolution and that there was space for private-sector financial intermediation,” says Uday Kotak, founder and chief executive, looking back to when he set up the institution in the 1980s.

Since then Kotak Mahindra’s story has somewhat mirrored India’s story.

“As we have evolved, we have seen a closed market become a pretty vibrant financial market,” says Uday.