Bank Credit to Industry Grows at Robust 17.5 pc in May: RBI Data

Bank credit to industry recorded a robust annual growth of 17.5% in May as advances to large industries grew at an accelerated pace, along with sustained healthy expansion in the MSE sector, according to Reserve Bank data released on Tuesday.

On a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, non-food bank credit grew by 17.4% as of the fortnight ended May 31, 2026, compared to 8.8% during the corresponding period of the previous year (May 30, 2025), according to sectoral deployment of bank credit for May 2026.

Also, the credit to agriculture and allied activities registered a y-o-y growth of 14.9% vis-a-vis 7.5% in the corresponding fortnight of the previous year.

"Credit to industry recorded a robust y-o-y growth of 17.5% (5.3% in the corresponding fortnight of last year)," the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said.

While credit to 'micro and small' and 'medium' industries sustained robust expansion, 'large' industries grew at an accelerated pace, it said.

Among major industries, credit to 'infrastructure', 'all engineering', 'textile', 'construction', 'petroleum, coal products and nuclear fuels' and 'chemical and chemical products' marked buoyant growth.

However, 'rubber, plastic and their products' and 'wood and wood products' segments witnessed marginally subdued growth, the central bank said.

Further, credit to the personal loans segment recorded a growth of 15.4% compared to 11.1% a year ago.

While segments such as 'vehicle loans' and 'housing' registered steady growth, 'credit card outstanding' decelerated.

Loan to the services sector registered a growth rate of 20.4% (8.4% in the corresponding fortnight of the previous year), supported by accelerated growth in segments such as 'non-banking financial companies', 'commercial real estate', and 'trade'.

The data on sectoral deployment of bank credit has been collected from 41 select scheduled commercial banks, which together account for about 95% of the total non-food credit by all SCBs, the RBI said.