Banks' credit to industry grows by 8% in October: RBI data

Banks' credit to industry grew by 8% in October 2024 compared to 4.8% in the year-ago period, according to the RBI data released on Friday.

The Reserve Bank data also showed that credit to agriculture and allied activities registered a growth of 15.5% year-on-year in October 2024, compared to 17.4% seen in the same month of last year.

Among major industries, credit to 'chemicals and chemical products', 'petroleum, coal products and nuclear fuels', and 'all engineering' recorded a higher growth in October 2024 as compared to their respective growth rates a year ago.

Personal loans growth decelerated to 15.8% in October as compared to 18% recorded a year ago, largely due to decline in growth in 'other personal loans', 'vehicle loans' and 'credit card outstanding'.

However, 'housing' -- the largest constituent of the personal loans segment -- recorded an accelerated growth on year.

RBI further said credit growth to services sector was at 14.1% in October 2024 (20.4% a year ago), primarily due to lower growth in credit to 'non-banking financial companies' (NBFCs) and trade segment.

However, growth of credit to 'commercial real estate' accelerated in October 2024.

Non-food bank credit in October 2024 grew at 12.8%, as compared to 15.5% a year ago, RBI said.

Data on sectoral deployment of bank credit for October 2024 was collected from 41 select commercial banks, accounting for about 95% of the total non-food credit deployed by all scheduled commercial banks.