Nearly half of Indians open to taking loan for improving lifestyle: Survey

Around half of Indians surveyed are open to taking loans especially for fulfilling family needs and upgrading their lifestyle, a report said on Thursday.

The survey commissioned by Home Credit India, a consumer finance provider, revealed that nearly one-third of respondents are willing to take a loan for a consumer durable item such as mobile phone, television and refrigerator etc.

The other popular loan categories are two-wheelers (23.3 per cent) and personal expenses (20.3 per cent), the survey said.

This is followed by car purchase (12.5 per cent), house (12 per cent) and gold (10.5 per cent), it said.

When asked about the future, 33 per cent of respondents are likely to take it for consumer durables while personal loans are the next high interest segment at 28 per cent followed by two wheelers at 22.8 per cent.

Agriculture loans (0.7 per cent), credit card EMI (1.1 per cent), travel loans (1.5 per cent) and medical loans (3.7 per cent) are the lowest ranked categories of loans, it added.

The survey was conducted across 12 cities and 2,571 respondents were evaluated to provide a near to accurate pattern of savings, spending and borrowing behaviour in the country.

Around 34 per cent respondents said they rely on friends for advice while taking loans, followed by family at 31.8 per cent and colleagues at 25.4 per cent, Home Credit India Chief Marketing Officer Marko Carevic said citing findings of the survey.

"It's for the family! The desire to fulfil the needs and the wishes of the family tops the reasons for taking a loan in the future," it said.

So while lifestyle is important, respondents have revealed that fulfilling family needs and their wishes constitutes the single topmost reason for people wanting to take a new loan at an average of 46 per cent nationally, it said.

Family orientation and needs is the highest among people in Patna (61 per cent) followed by Lucknow (58 per cent), Nagpur (56 per cent) and Jaipur (54 per cent), it said.

While the country is very positive towards loans, a section of the respondents have also not been positively drawn towards the concept of lending and borrowing and therefore have never taken a loan before, it said.