HDFC Bank Limited
Founders
Hasmukhbhai Parekh · Founded 1994 · HQ today: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
HDFC Bank was founded by Hasmukhbhai Parekh in 1994. It is now led by Sashidhar Jagdishan.
When the RBI opened banking to private players in 1993-94, HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh recruited Aditya Puri, then running Citibank in Malaysia, to build a new bank. HDFC Bank opened its first branch at Sandoz House in Worli, Mumbai in January 1995 and set out to compete on service, technology and credit discipline rather than on the scale of state-owned banks.
Parekh studied at the London School of Economics and spent years at ICICI, rising to chairman, before launching HDFC.
Hasmukhbhai Thakordas (H.T.) Parekh founded Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) in 1977, at age 66, after a long career at ICICI. HDFC became India's leading mortgage lender and in 1994 promoted HDFC Bank, which later absorbed HDFC Ltd in the 2023 merger.
Rajiv Kumar
Part-time Chairman
He managed the complex post-merger integration processes to ensure the massive combined loan book maintained strict asset quality.
Atanu Chakraborty
Part-time Chairman
Former Economic Affairs Secretary who chaired the board through the HDFC Ltd merger; resigned on March 18, 2026, citing ethical concerns. Keki Mistry served as interim chairman until Rajiv Kumar's appointment.
Sashidhar Jagdishan
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Steered the bank through the RBI technology restrictions and the largest merger in Indian banking, while keeping gross NPAs near 1.2%.
Aditya Puri
Managing Director
Over 26 years as CEO, he built HDFC into India's largest and most highly valued private sector bank, maintaining pristine asset quality throughout multiple economic cycles.
HDFC Bank was incorporated in August 1994 in Mumbai, promoted by Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC Ltd), which H.T. Parekh founded in 1977. Deepak Parekh, HDFC's chairman, backed the venture and Aditya Puri was its founding managing director.
In 1994, Deepak Parekh persuaded Aditya Puri, then the highly successful CEO of Citibank Malaysia, to return to India and build a clean-slate, technology-driven private bank from scratch, offering Puri complete operational autonomy to hire high-quality talent and establish corporate governance.
In January 1995, HDFC Bank was formally inaugurated by then-Union Finance Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, opening its first registered commercial branch at Sandoz House, Worli, Mumbai, quickly attracting retail and corporate depositors seeking efficient private banking.
While state-run banks relied on manual paper ledgers, HDFC Bank deployed modern core banking software (Microbanker and later Finacle), real-time interconnected ATMs, telephone banking, and internet banking, establishing India's first fully computerized real-time banking network.
HDFC Bank listed on Indian stock exchanges in 1995 and listed American Depositary Shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker HDB in 2001.
As an institution, it was founded by HDFC Ltd. The true visionaries behind the empire are Hasmukhbhai Parekh (who founded the parent housing company in 1977) and his nephew, Deepak Parekh, the legendary financier who orchestrated the launch of the banking arm in 1994 to capture India's massive economic liberalization.
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