Gold loan share in bank retail credit doubles to 6% in a year: RBI data

Additionally, the share of gold loans in overall retail loans of banks has now doubled to 6 per cent (January 2026), from 3 per cent as of January 2025

Loans against gold jewellery surged 128.8 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to nearly ₹4 trillion in January, mirroring the sharp rise in gold prices, latest Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data shows.

 

This compares with a little over 91 per cent growth in the segment during the same period last year, when the outstanding portfolio stood at ₹1.75 trillion.

 

Share of gold loans in overall retail loans of banks also doubled to 6 per cent in January, from 3 per cent in the year-ago month.

 

Overall retail loans grew 14.9 per cent Y-o-Y to ₹67.23 trillion in January, compared with 12 per cent growth a year ago.

 

Within retail, credit card outstanding growth moderated sharply to 1.5 per cent Y-o-Y in January from 13 per cent in the same month a year ago. Vehicle loans recorded healthy growth of 17 per cent Y-o-Y. Housing loan growth, however, remained steady at 11 per cent.

 

Aggregate bank credit rose 14.6 per cent Y-o-Y in January, higher than 11.4 per cent growth recorded in the same month in 2025. Food credit expanded nearly 60 per cent Y-o-Y, while non-food credit grew 14.4 per cent. 

 

Credit to industry increased 12.1 per cent Y-o-Y in January, compared with 8.3 per cent growth a year earlier. Credit to micro and small enterprises (MSEs) rose sharply by 31.2 per cent Y-o-Y, up from 9.6 per cent, while loans to medium industries grew 22.3 per cent, compared with 18.4 per cent in January 2025. Credit to large industries grew at a relatively slower pace of 5.5 per cent Y-o-Y, down from 6.8 per cent a year ago.

 

“There is some pickup in corporate credit, mainly to the MSME segment. The growth in credit to MSMEs is due to both the redefinition of MSMEs and credit guarantees offered by the government, which provide incentives for banks to lend. This also results in a reduction in defaults and consequently lowers losses for banks,” said Saurabh Bhalerao, associate director, BFSI, CareEdge Ratings.

 

Among major industries, outstanding credit to infrastructure grew 6.4 per cent Y-o-Y, compared with 2.3 per cent growth a year earlier. Credit to the engineering segment surged 35.9 per cent Y-o-Y, up from 18 per cent last year. Loans to the chemicals and chemical products segment grew 15.1 per cent Y-o-Y, compared with 9.5 per cent in January 2025.

 

Credit growth in the textiles segment nearly doubled to 10 per cent Y-o-Y from 5.8 per cent a year earlier.

 

Credit to the services sector grew 15.5 per cent Y-o-Y, compared with 12.3 per cent growth in the corresponding fortnight of the previous year, supported by higher lending to segments such as non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), trade and commercial real estate. Bank credit to NBFCs rose 17.8 per cent Y-o-Y, sharply higher than 8.2 per cent growth in January 2025.  Gold prices in India more than doubled from Rs 81,757 per 10 gm in January 2025 to Rs 165,131 in January 2026. 

Credit growth falls to 13.6%; deposits grow at 11.2%

 

Banking credit grew at 13.6 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in the fortnight ended February 15, falling from 14.6 per cent Y-o-Y growth recorded in the previous fortnight. Similarly, deposit growth also fell to 11.2 per cent during this period, from 12.5 per cent in the previous fortnight, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data shows. In the fortnight, credit degrew by 0.2 per cent, or Rs 43,129 crore, while deposits saw a contraction of Rs 1.08 trillion. On an absolute basis, banking credit in the system stood at Rs 204.32 trillion, while deposits in the system stood at Rs 247.7 trillion.