<p><b>People walk in front of a signboard displayed at the head office of State Bank of India in Mumbai</b></p><p>State Bank of India, the country's biggest lender, beat market expectations with a sharp rise in its fourth-quarter net profit, mainly due to a lower base last year and strong demand for loans</p><p>SBI, in which the government is a majority shareholder, reported a net profit of Rs 4,050 crore for the three months to March, up from Rs 20.9 crore year earlier. The bank's year-ago profit was impacted by sharply higher provisions for bad loans</p><p><b>(Photos by Reuters)</b></p>