RBI data show NBFC credit growing 15.8 per cent year-on-year, led by retail loans
6 October 2026
The Reserve Bank of India released data on sectoral deployment of credit by non-banking financial companies for August 2026.
NBFC credit grew 15.8 per cent year-on-year in August 2026, against 10.0 per cent a year earlier.
Credit to agriculture and allied activities expanded 17.4 per cent year-on-year, up sharply from 5.1 per cent in August 2025.
Credit to industry grew 8.4 per cent year-on-year, little changed from 8.3 per cent a year earlier, with infrastructure credit steady.
Credit to services moderated to 16.2 per cent year-on-year from 24.0 per cent; commercial real estate expanded strongly while trade and transport decelerated.
Retail loans accelerated to 22.0 per cent year-on-year from 13.6 per cent, with faster growth in housing loans and loans against gold jewellery.
The data cover a sample of upper and middle layer NBFCs and housing finance companies accounting for about 87 per cent of total NBFC credit.
In plain words
NBFC Non-Banking Financial Company — A company registered under the Companies Act that lends and invests but does not hold a banking licence.
Upper and middle layer Upper Layer and Middle Layer NBFCs — Two of the tiers in the Reserve Bank's scale-based regulatory framework for NBFCs, which carry stricter norms than the base layer.
Housing finance company Housing Finance Company (HFC) — An NBFC whose principal business is providing finance for housing, regulated by the Reserve Bank.
Year-on-year Year-on-year (y-o-y) — A comparison of a figure with the same month or quarter of the previous year.