The growth in non-food credit of scheduled commercial banks slowed to 11.8% year-on-year (y-o-y) in November 2024, compared to 16.5% in the same period last year, as per data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Overall bank credit, which includes food and non-food credit, expanded by 11.8%, down from 16.3% in November 2023. Notably, food credit recorded a substantial increase of 22.9%.
Non-food credit, which stood at ₹170.02 lakh crore in November 2024 compared to ₹152.05 lakh crore a year earlier, is often considered a key indicator of bank lending. This data excludes the impact of the HDFC Ltd-HDFC Bank merger that became effective on July 1, 2023.
Sectoral Trends
The industry segment registered a credit growth of 8.1% in November 2024, up from 5.5% in November 2023. Advances to medium industries surged by 20% y-o-y, compared to 12% growth in the same period last year. While loans to micro and small industries moderated, they still recorded double-digit growth at 10.1%, down from 16.9% in November 2023. Credit to large industries grew at 6.1%, compared to a modest 2.9% last year.
In monetary terms, bank credit to the industry increased to ₹37.98 lakh crore in November 2024, compared to ₹35.12 lakh crore in the previous year. Of this, advances to micro and small enterprises stood at ₹7.57 lakh crore, while medium industry loans were ₹3.4 lakh crore.
Personal Loans and Housing Growth
Personal loans remained a key driver of overall non-food credit growth, increasing by 16.3% (₹53.73 lakh crore) in November 2024, though slower than the 18.7% growth (₹46.18 lakh crore) recorded in the same month last year. Housing loans, including priority sector housing loans, grew by 18%, an improvement over the 14.8% growth seen in November 2023.
Credit card outstanding growth moderated significantly to 18.1%, down from 34.2% a year ago. This was attributed to the RBI’s November 2023 decision to increase risk weights on unsecured loans, including personal loans and credit cards, to curb rapid expansion. Vehicle loans also saw slower growth at 10.3% in November 2024, compared to 20.6% in November 2023.
Other Sectors
Credit to agriculture and allied activities grew by 15.3%, slightly lower than the 18.1% growth recorded in November 2023. Credit to the services sector grew by 14.4%, down from 22.2% a year earlier. This slowdown was primarily due to reduced credit growth to non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), which grew by 7.8%, compared to 18.9% in November 2023, and the trade segment, which grew by 14.5% against 20.6% last year.
However, some segments witnessed acceleration. Credit to commercial real estate grew by 26.3% in November 2024, up from 17.1% a year ago, while loans to the computer software segment saw a sharp rise of 22.5%, compared to 5.6% in November 2023.
The RBI data highlights a mixed trend in credit growth, with slower momentum in some sectors counterbalanced by robust growth in others, particularly medium industries and select service categories.