NBFCs loans against gold jewellery surge 68.5% in July: RBI
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its the periodic data has showed that Non-banking financial companies’ (NBFCs) loans against gold jewellery grew at 68.5 per cent year-on-year in July 2026, continuing a months-long trend of elevated lending against precious metals. Gold loan growth stood at 69.3 per cent in June 2026, while the segment had recorded a 43.9 per cent year-on-year increase in July 2025.
According to the data, lending to facilitate consumer durable buys also accelerated sharply, rising 51.5 per cent in July 2026 as compared with 46.8 per cent in June and 18.8 per cent in the year-ago period. The sustained rise in gold prices over the past few quarters has made the entire lending ecosystem more comfortable with the segment as there are better returns with high-value security, which also has an emotional value. However, some concerns have emerged over the shift away from asset-creation and the higher propensity to borrow for consumption-related expenses.
Data further stated that the housing loans segment for NBFCs, including housing finance companies (HFCs), grew 11.9 per cent on-year in July 2026, up from 11.4 per cent in June and 4 per cent in July 2025. Vehicle loan segment for NBFCs recorded 15.1 per cent growth in July, as against 15.3 per cent in July 2025 and 15.2 per cent in June 2026. The overall retail credit for NBFCs and HFCs put together grew 21.4 per cent in July 2026. However, growth in loans to the services sector moderated to 15.2 per cent in July 2026 from 24.5 per cent in July 2025 and 17.6 per cent in June this year. Loans to the industry segment grew 7.4 per cent in July 2026, down from 9.3 per cent in the year-ago period but higher than the 6.7 per cent in June this year.
