Industry share in bank credit hits record low

Accounted for 26.6% of non-food bank credit at the end of January

- KRISHNA KANT

The share of industry in the total non-food bank credit declined to a record low of 26.6 per cent at the end of January 2023, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data. This share stood at 28.6 per cent as of March 2022, and 45.8 per cent around a decade ago, at the end of March 2013.

Credit to industry grew at a healthy pace - between 10 and 14 per cent - in most months during the first half of 2022-23 (FY23), in contrast to the slowdown seen after November. The outstanding bank credit to industry grew 8.7 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in January this year, as against 13.6 per cent YoY growth in October 2022.

In the first eight months of FY23 (April-November 2022), bank credit to industry grew about 11 per cent YoY, while it was up 9.9 per cent YoY in FY22. In comparison, the overall non-food credit was up 16.6 per cent YoY in January this year.

Non-food credit is the sum of all loans given by banks to firms and individuals other than Food Corporation of India (FCI). Bank loans to FCI for the procurement of foodgrain are called food credit. Credit to industry is all bank loans to firms in the industrial sector such as manufacturing, power, mining, oil & gas, construction, telecom and other infrastructure sectors.