Kotak's Ashok Vaswani highest-paid private bank CEO in FY26 with Rs 17.23 crore cash pay

Kotak Mahindra Bank CEO Ashok Vaswani emerged as the highest-paid private bank CEO in FY26 with a cash remuneration of Rs 17.23 crore, further boosted by a Rs 6.68 crore stock appreciation rights payout and 355,500 stock options. Vaswani will exit the bank in December 2026 as he has declined another term. At HDFC Bank, deputy MD Kaizad Bharucha's total compensation of around Rs 68.15 crore (including stock options) exceeded that of CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan, who earned around Rs 50.17 crore.