Banks loosen purse strings for corporate sector; lending picks up in FY19

In FY17, credit to the industry witnessed de-growth of 1.9%, and on that base, credit grew 0.8% in FY18

Now that the recognition of bad debts on the books is complete, banks seem to be getting back in the habit of lending to corporates.

Lending to industries picked up in 2018-19 (FY19) after remaining muted for the past five years. Credit to the industry grew at 6.9 per cent year-on-year in FY19, the data released by the Reserve Bank of India shows. The outstanding credit at the end of March 2019 was Rs 28.9 trillion, compared with Rs 27 trillion in March 2018.

“Banks now have a clear idea about the system-wide stress on sectors such as power and