Non-food bank credit growth jumps to 15.8% in April 2026; services, industry lead expansion: RBI

Non-food bank lending rose to 15.8% year‑on‑year for the two‑week period ending April 30 2026, up from 9.8% in the same period a year earlier, the Reserve Bank of India reported on Friday.

The figures, drawn from 41 selected scheduled commercial banks that together represent roughly 95% of all non‑food credit extended by SCBs, indicate widespread expansion across major sectors. Loans to agriculture and related activities grew 13.7% year‑on‑year as of the fortnight ending April 30 2026, compared with 9.2% a year earlier, the RBI noted.

Industrial credit jumped 15.1% year‑on‑year, a marked increase from the 7.0% recorded in the same fortnight last year. The RBI observed that while lending to micro‑small and large firms accelerated, medium‑sized enterprises showed steady year‑on‑year growth.

Within the industrial basket, outstanding credit to infrastructure, basic metals and metal products, all engineering, petroleum‑coal‑nuclear fuels, and chemicals rose notably year‑on‑year. In contrast, the RBI pointed out that construction, textiles, and rubber‑plastic‑products saw only modest credit expansion. The services segment drove the overall rise, posting 18.6% year‑on‑year growth as of April 30 2026, up from 10.1% in the same fortnight a year earlier.

The RBI attributed the uplift to strong showings from non‑banking financial companies (NBFCs), commercial real estate, trade, and professional services. Personal‑loan balances also kept pace, climbing 16.0% year‑on‑year versus 11.9% a year earlier. While vehicle and home loans continued to expand briskly, outstanding credit‑card balances showed a slowdown.

The RBI noted that the figures appear in Statements I and II of its release. Persistent double‑digit expansion in agriculture, industry, services and personal loans signals strengthening credit demand across the economy, although sectors such as construction and textiles exhibited comparatively weaker uptake.

Published on May 30, 2026