HDFC Bank’s incoming Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Anup Bagchi, is set to become India’s highest-paid bank CEO, with proposed annualised compensation of ₹35.9 crore, according to the bank’s latest disclosure.
The proposed package is more than double the ₹17.23 crore received by Kotak Mahindra Bank CEO Ashok Vaswani in FY26. The total compensation includes ₹8.97 crore in fixed pay and ₹26.92 crore in variable pay. Of the variable component, ₹8.88 crore is proposed as cash compensation, while ₹18.04 crore is linked to share-based instruments.
The share-linked component includes 7,11,801 employee stock options (ESOPs), valued at ₹18.04 crore using the Black-Scholes method. These options will be deferred and vested over 4 years.
The bank has also proposed a one-time joining bonus comprising 44,796 restricted stock units valued at ₹3.19 crore and 1,64,207 ESOPs valued at ₹4.16 crore.
Bagchi’s remuneration disclosure follows HDFC Bank’s announcement of his appointment on October 1, after receiving approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He will take charge as MD and CEO on October 27 for a 3-year term, succeeding Sashidhar Jagdishan.
Jagdishan informed the bank’s board on August 29 that he would not seek reappointment after his current term ends on October 26. The bank subsequently evaluated internal and external candidates before selecting Bagchi.
HDFC Bank’s FY26 annual report showed that Jagdishan received approximately ₹15.3 crore in salary, allowances, benefits and performance-linked compensation, excluding the value of stock options granted during the year. His reported remuneration included ₹3.31 crore in basic salary, ₹3.63 crore in allowances and perquisites, ₹39.70 lakh in provident fund contributions, ₹49.64 lakh in superannuation benefits and a ₹7.29 crore performance bonus.
However, the comparison with Bagchi’s proposed package is not directly equivalent. His ₹35.9 crore figure includes substantial variable compensation and the indicative value of ESOPs. The bank has stated that variable pay may be revised based on actual performance and remains subject to approvals from its governance committee, board and the RBI.
Bagchi, 56, brings more than 3 decades of experience across financial services. His previous leadership positions include Executive Director at ICICI Bank, CEO and MD of ICICI Securities, and MD and CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance.
His appointment concludes a closely watched succession process at HDFC Bank as the lender prepares for its next phase of growth across retail banking, corporate banking and digital services.
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