Kotak Mahindra Bank has emerged as one of the top players in the private banking space. Disclosing its assets under management (AUM), C Jayaram, executive director of the bank said, "We have emerged as one of the leading players in the industry with assets under management in the range of Rs 13,000 crore."

A senior official with a foreign bank said that the AUM would certainly place the bank amongst the top two, if not the number one player in the category.

While private banking is a space where banks seldom disclose any information regarding assets under management, Players like DSP Merill Lynch, Deustche bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank have always been acknowledged as key players in the segment. However, both DSP Merrill Lynch and Deustche bank does not reveal their AUMs as per their policies.

Kotak identifies its private banking clients as individuals with an investible surplus of over Rs. 5 crore (or $1 million). A similar trend is followed by all other large banks.

According to the executive director, client base in the private banking business has seen a huge rise in the past year as well, and the bank now has a relationship with 1,500 high networth individuals. "There is a large base of HNIs in the country. This has been rising and will be on the rise. There are more people being added to the universe every year, and it's a function of the way India is progressing," he added.

According to a media report, the Indian lender is also looking for acquisitions in the near future. The report said that the bank had huge surplus capital and more than 20 percent capital adequacy and was in a good position to do consolidation.