Kotak Mahindra Bank enters general insurance biz

Private-lender, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd on Tuesday announced its entry into general insurance business.

The bank has received the approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to form a subsidiary to commence this business, the lender said in a release.

Kotak had earlier received an in-principle approval from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) for incorporation of a General Insurance company.

The lender has named Mahesh Balasubramanian as the chief executive officer of the new venture. Balasubramanian is currently the Executive Vice President of the bank.

Last week, Kotak Mahindra Bank had announced its decision to buy out ING Vysya bank for about Rs 15,000 crore in an all-stock deal.

The deal will make Kotak the fourth largest private bank with combined assets of Rs 1,60,012 crore (replacing Yes Bank, which had total assets of Rs 1,16,231 crore as on September) and total branches of 1,214.

The resultant entity will have total deposits of Rs 1,12,755 crore and advances of Rs1,00,506 crore.