NBFC gold loans surge 69% to Rs 3.41 lakh crore in June
NBFC gold loans grew 69.3% YoY to Rs 3.41 lakh crore in June, far outpacing overall retail loan growth of 20.3%.
Gold-backed lending by non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) continued its rapid expansion in June, with outstanding loans against gold jewellery surging 69.3% year-on-year to Rs 3.41 lakh crore. This follows a 69.9% growth recorded in May, indicating sustained momentum in this segment.
The growth in gold loans significantly outpaced the broader retail loan portfolio of NBFCs, which expanded 20.3% year-on-year in June, up from 14.3% growth a year earlier. Total outstanding retail loans rose to approximately Rs 25.62 lakh crore from Rs 21.29 lakh crore in the same period last year.
Within the retail segment, housing loans grew 11.4% to around Rs 8.44 lakh crore, while vehicle loans rose 15.2% to Rs 6.24 lakh crore. Consumer durable loans saw a sharper increase of 46.8%, reaching Rs 72,201 crore.
The surge in gold-backed lending comes amid a strengthened regulatory framework. The Reserve Bank of India issued the Lending Against Gold and Silver Collateral Directions in June 2025, following supervisory concerns raised in September 2024. These included deficiencies in third-party sourcing, inadequate due diligence, weak monitoring of loan-to-value ratios, and lack of transparency in auctions of defaulted gold jewellery.
Meanwhile, credit growth across other sectors was mixed. Credit to industry grew 6.7%, slowing from 10.3% a year earlier, primarily due to subdued infrastructure lending. Services sector credit growth moderated to 17.6% from 22.4%, while agriculture and allied activities saw a sharp acceleration to 17.9% from 5.1%.
The data is based on a sample of NBFCs in the Upper and Middle Layers and housing finance companies, which together account for about 87% of total credit covered by the central bank's reference data.