India's NBFC credit grows 15.8% in August, led by retail loans up 22%; services slow to 16.2%

Victoria Shinder06 October 2026, 22:431 min read

Credit extended by India's non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) grew 15.8% year on year in August 2026, against 10.0% a year earlier, according to data the Reserve Bank of India published on 6 October.

By sector, August 2026 against August 2025:

• Retail loans: 22.0%, up from 13.6%. Within retail, housing loans and loans against gold jewellery accelerated, and vehicle loans kept growing strongly with a marginal uptick.
• Agriculture and allied activities: 17.4%, up from 5.1%.
• Services: 16.2%, down from 24.0%. Commercial real estate credit expanded briskly, while lending to trade and transport operators slowed.
• Industry: 8.4%, against 8.3%; growth in infrastructure lending was steady.

What the data cover. The figures are provisional, collected from major NBFCs and housing finance companies, and based on a sample of NBFCs in the upper and middle layers plus housing finance companies that account for about 87% of total credit, the RBI says.

The picture. The acceleration is concentrated in lending to households: retail and farm credit grew fastest, while credit to businesses in industry barely moved and services slowed sharply from last year's pace. Gold-backed loans speeding up alongside housing loans is a detail worth watching in the next releases, since the RBI singles it out in its highlights.