Mumbai, March 30 Bank credit to the industry grew at a faster pace of 13.5 per cent during the fortnight ending February 28, compared with 7.5 per cent in the year-ago period, according to data released by the RBI on Monday.
The strong growth is primarily driven by higher growth in 'infrastructure', 'all engineering', 'chemicals and chemical products', 'petroleum, coal products and nuclear fuels', and 'textiles', said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The RBI has released data on the sectoral deployment of bank credit for February 2026, collected from 41 select scheduled commercial banks (SCBs), which together account for about 95 per cent of the total non-food credit by all commercial banks.
"On a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, non-food bank credit grew by 14.3 per cent as of the fortnight ending February 28, 2026, compared to 11.1 per cent during the corresponding fortnight of the previous year (March 7, 2025)," the RBI said.
Credit to the industry recorded a year-on-year growth of 13.5 per cent, compared with 7.5 per cent in the corresponding fortnight of last year, the RBI said.
Regarding the industry, it said loans to 'micro and small' and 'medium' industries continued to show double-digit expansion, while credit to large industries also registered higher growth.
According to the data, credit to the services sector registered a growth rate of 16.3 per cent year-on-year (11.7 per cent in the corresponding fortnight of the previous year), supported by higher growth in segments such as banks' credit to 'non-banking financial companies' (NBFCs) and 'commercial real estate'.
"Credit to the personal loans segment recorded a year-on-year growth of 15.2 per cent, as compared to 11.7 per cent a year ago," the RBI said, adding that housing continued with steady growth, while segments such as 'vehicle loans' and 'loans against gold jewellery' sustained sharp expansion.
The RBI also said credit to agriculture and allied activities registered an expansion of 12.3 per cent. This compares with 11.4 per cent in the corresponding fortnight of the previous year.
