Changes in the domestic and global economies as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic are reshaping the corporate profit league table in India. Reliance Industries (RIL), which had dominated the India Inc profit chart for more than a decade, was beaten by State Bank of India (SBI) in the April-June 2023-24 (FY24) quarter (first quarter, or Q1).

During the trailing 12-month (TTM) ended in June this year, India's largest lender reported a consolidated net profit (adjusted for exceptional gains and losses) of Rs 66,860 crore, beating RIL's TTM adjusted net profit of Rs 64,758 crore.

The public sector lender's quarterly net profit of Rs 18,537 crore in Q1FY24 was also higher than RIL's quarterly net profit of Rs 16,011 crore.

This is only the second time in the last two decades that SBI has reported a higher TTM net profit. SBI reported a TTM net profit of Rs 18,810 crore in the 2011-12 (FY12) July-September quarter, compared to RIL's consolidated net profit of Rs 18,588 crore.

Historically, RIL has competed for the title of the country's most profitable firm with public sector oil and gas majors such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Indian Oil Corporation (IndianOil).

RIL was last beaten by IndianOil in the profit league table during the TTM ended April-June quarter of 2012-13. Until the October-December quarter of FY12, ONGC was ahead of RIL in the profit league.