Anup Bagchi's Road To HDFC Bank Runs Through 34 Years Of ICICI

Anup Bagchi joined the ICICI Group in 1992. On October 27, he will begin a three-year term as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of HDFC Bank, India's largest private sector lender.

HDFC Bank announced the appointment on Thursday, October 1, settling a question that has been open at the lender since August.

Bagchi, 56, takes over from Sashidhar Jagdishan, whose term ends a day earlier, on October 26, 2026. Jagdishan has headed HDFC Bank from 2020 and chose not to seek a third term. The appointment brings Bagchi back to banking after about three years in insurance.

Bagchi's career of more than three decades spans across banking, capital markets, wealth management and insurance. He has a track record of business building and strategic leadership, and with steering through changes in the financial services landscape.

Within the ICICI Group, he has worked in treasury, retail banking, wholesale banking, investment banking and digital financial services. Among the senior positions he has held are Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ICICI Securities and Executive Director of ICICI Bank, followed by his present role at the life insurer.

Beyond the main operating roles, Bagchi chaired ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company until May 2023. He has been a director on the boards of ICICI Prudential Pension Funds Management Company and ICICI Home Finance. He holds a management degree from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, and an engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.

The ICICI Bank Years

Bagchi was an Executive Director at ICICI Bank from 2017 to 2023. He first oversaw retail, business and rural banking, and later took charge of wholesale banking. Retail and wholesale banking together covered both the individual and the corporate customers of the lender. His brief also took in digital channels, inclusive banking, markets, data analytics and technology-led financial services.

He played a key role in strengthening the bank's retail franchise and drove profitable growth, while holding the line on credit and costs. ICICI Bank became the first private sector bank in India to take its retail mortgage portfolio beyond ₹2 trillion under his leadership. Notably, under him, the lender moved through demonetisation with limited disruption to business.

A Stint At The Insurer

Bagchi moved to ICICI Prudential Life Insurance in June 2023, weeks after he stepped down as chairman of the group's asset management company. The insurer is a listed company and one of India's largest private life insurers. In FY2025, the company crossed ₹10,000 crore in annualised premium equivalent (APE) for the first time.

Under his leadership, APE grew 15% year-on-year to ₹10,407 crore that year, and profit after tax rose nearly 40% to ₹1,189 crore. The business has also delivered strong growth in protection products and new business generation, which was part of his focus on sustainable and profitable expansion.

How The Succession Unfolded

The search for a new chief began in August, when Jagdishan told the board he would not seek reappointment after his second term. In September, the board cleared two names for the post and sent them to the Reserve Bank of India in order of preference. The bank did not disclose the names at the time, and the appointment announced on Thursday is the outcome of that process.

Bagchi had been widely seen as the leading contender for the role. Kaizad M Bharucha, an internal candidate, was also in the reckoning.

Jagdishan's association with HDFC Bank is longer than his time as chief executive. He joined the bank in February 1996. He became chief financial officer in 2008 and chief executive in October 2020, when Aditya Puri stepped down. His second three-year term began in October 2023. That was also the year HDFC Ltd, the mortgage lender, merged with the bank, and the year Bagchi moved from banking to insurance. When Jagdishan steps down, he will have completed more than 30 years at the bank.