NBFC credit growth accelerates to 15.4% in September, retail lending leads expansion: RBI

Retail loans emerged as a key growth driver, with credit expansion accelerating to 21.9 per cent in September 2026 from 16.8 per cent a year ago, reflecting increased lending across housing, gold-backed and vehicle financing segments.

Within the retail portfolio, housing loans, loans against gold jewellery and vehicle loans witnessed accelerated credit growth, indicating stronger expansion across these lending categories.

Credit to agriculture and allied activities also recorded a significant improvement, growing 17.8 per cent year-on-year in September, compared with 5.2 per cent in the corresponding period last year.

However, the expansion in industrial credit remained relatively subdued, with growth declining to 7.4 per cent in September 2026 from 10.2 per cent a year earlier. Within the industrial segment, infrastructure continued to witness subdued credit growth, indicating relatively slower lending expansion in the segment.

Credit growth in the services sector also moderated to 17.3 per cent during the month, compared with 23 per cent in September 2025.

Despite the moderation, certain segments within services continued to register strong credit expansion. Commercial real estate recorded buoyant growth, while trade and transport operators also witnessed higher credit growth.

The latest figures indicate that retail and agricultural lending have provided significant support to overall NBFC credit expansion, even as industrial and services sector growth moderated during the period.

The data on sectoral deployment of credit was collected from major NBFCs and housing finance companies (HFCs).

The RBI said the provisional sectoral credit data is based on a sample of NBFCs in the Upper and Middle Layers and HFCs, accounting for around 87 per cent of the total credit reported in its 'Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India 2024-25', with outstanding figures as of September 2025. (ANI)