RBI Press Release

Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit – March 2026

Data on sectoral deployment of bank credit for the month of March 2026, collected from 41 select scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) which together account for about 95 per cent of the total non-food credit by all SCBs1, are set out in Statements I and II.

On a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, non-food bank credit2 grew by 15.9 per cent as on the fortnight ended March 31, 2026, compared to 10.9 per cent during the corresponding fortnight of the previous year (i.e., April 04, 2025).

Highlights of the sectoral deployment of bank credit as on the fortnight ended March 31, 2026 are given below:

  • Credit to agriculture and allied activities registered a y-o-y growth of 15.7 per cent vis-a-vis 10.4 per cent in the corresponding fortnight of the previous year.

  • Credit to industry recorded a y-o-y growth of 15.0 per cent (8.2 per cent in the corresponding fortnight of last year). Credit to ‘Micro and Small’ and ‘Medium’ industries sustained robust expansion. Credit to large industries also strengthened further. Among major industries, outstanding credit to ‘infrastructure’, ‘all engineering’, ‘basic metal and metal product’, ‘chemical and chemical products, and ‘petroleum, coal products and nuclear fuels’ marked resilient y-o-y growth.

  • Credit to services sector registered a growth rate of 19.0 per cent y-o-y (12.0 per cent in the corresponding fortnight of the previous year), supported by higher growth in segments such as ‘non-banking financial companies’ (NBFCs), ‘trade’ and ‘commercial real estate’.

  • Credit to personal loans segment recorded a y-o-y growth of 16.2 per cent, as compared with 11.7 per cent a year ago. While segments such as ‘vehicle loans’ and ‘loans against gold jewellery’ sustained robust credit growth, credit to ‘housing’ segment remained steady.

Ajit Prasad          
Deputy General Manager
(Communications)    

Press Release: 2026-2027/182

1 Data pertain to the last reporting fortnight of the month, based on sector-wise and industry-wise bank credit (SIBC) return. With effect from December 31, 2025, definition of last reporting fortnight has been changed to the last day of the month under the Banking Laws (Amendment) Act 2025. Accordingly, the y-o-y growth rates from December 2025 onwards are based on end-of-month data for the current year and data for the last reporting fortnight (as per old definition) for the corresponding month of the previous year.

2 Non-food credit data are based on Section-42 return which covers all scheduled commercial banks (SCBs).