Dinesh Kumar Khara, also called the ‘profit king’ as he led the State Bank of India (SBI) to impressive achievements during his tenure, retires on Wednesday.
Khara’s tenure has been marked by extraordinary financial performance, with SBI’s profit surging significantly, delivering a 325% return to investors.
Born on August 28, 1961, Dinesh Khara is a postgraduate in Commerce from Delhi School of Economics. He also holds an MBA degree from New Delhi’s Faculty of Management Studies.
Khara is a career banker who joined SBI in 1984 and worked his way to the top.
Taking over during tough Covid times:
Dinesh Khara was appointed as the SBI chairman on October 7, 2020, amidst the Covid-19 pandemic for three years.
However, his tenure was extended for another year. The government said that Khara is given the extension till he turns 63.
India’s economy was badly hit during the Covid times. India’s economic activity contracted by a record 23.9% in the June ended quarter of 2020, according to official data.
In the backdrop of sluggish business activity and growing uncertainty for professional individuals who have lost jobs or faced salary cuts, the pressure to repay loans had increased sharply.
With over 36 years across all verticals of banking, Khara took charge from his predecessor Rajnish Kumar and has been closely involved with the successful completion of the merger of SBI with its five associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank, in 2017.
SBI in last 4 years under Dinesh Khara:
Under his leadership in the last 4 years, SBI’s annual profit spiked by 200% from Rs 20,410 crore in FY21 to Rs 61,077 crore in FY24.
SBI’s cumulative profit reach Rs 1.63 trillion over the past four years, surpassing the Rs 1.45 trillion accumulated over the previous 64 years.
Bank’s net non-performing assets (NPAs) plummeted from 1.59% in Q1FY21 to just 0.57% in Q1FY25.
Further, the deposits reached Rs 49,01,726 crore growing by over 41%. The loan book expanded by 60% to Rs 38,12,087 crore.
SBI’s stock also performed very well under the leadership of Khara which surged 325% from Rs 191.6 to Rs 815. It continued to attract positive sentiment from investors.
Under the leadership of Khara, SBI is now India’s seventh-largest listed company with a market capitalisation of around Rs 7.3 trillion.
The Public Sector lender was also the second-largest profit-maker in FY24, behind Reliance Industries.
