The road ahead for State Bank of India

The elephant in Indian banking has already become nimble-footed. Its new boss, Dinesh Khara, needs to choreograph the steps for its dance

In three months ending March 2021, the State Bank of India posted Rs 6,451 crore net profit, its highest quarterly profit. For the full financial year, its Rs 20,410 crore profit has also been a record high. India’s largest lender has proposed a dividend (Rs 4 per share) after a gap of three years.

It had stopped paying dividends from the financial year 2018 when it had recorded its first ever annual loss (Rs 6,547 crore). In 2019, it returned to the black by posting Rs 862 crore profit and followed it up with a profit of Rs 14,488 crore in