Maharashtra tops list of states in growth of personal loans: RBI

In Maharashtra, personal loans make up for only 12.7 per cent of overall bank credit — lower than the national average of 19.7 per cent. 

WITH THE economic slowdown and weak demand for credit from industry, one of the key drivers of bank credit growth has been personal loans. These refer to credit extended for buying a house, vehicle, for educational purposes and for emergencies. Maharashtra tops the list of states when it comes to personal loans with borrowers getting Rs 2.95 lakh crore credit from commercial banks as on March 2017, according to the handbook of statistics for Indian states released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) earlier this month.

In the last nine years, personal loans in Maharashtra have grown 3.54 times, the data shows. In comparison, personal loans on an all-India basis grew 3.22 times to Rs 15.6 lakh crore. The state is also the largest recipient of overall bank credit. So, it is not surprising that Maharashtra also tops when it comes to the amount of personal loans. Maharashtra is followed by Karnataka with personal loans worth Rs 1.66 lakh crore, then Andhra Pradesh (including Telengana) with Rs 1.62 lakh crore, Tamil Nadu with Rs 1.56 lakh crore and Gujarat with Rs 94,400 crore. These states account for 56 per cent of personal loans and 58.4 per cent of the overall bank credit.

The fastest growth in terms of personal loans is seen in Haryana, where it grew 4.9 times to Rs 49,700 crore. It is followed by Jharkhand, which grew 4.16 times to Rs 17,900 crore and Jammu and Kashmir that recorded a growth of 4.11 times to Rs 14,800 crore.

In Maharashtra, personal loans make up for only 12.7 per cent of overall bank credit — lower than the national average of 19.7 per cent. In Goa, Rs 45 out of every Rs 100 lent by banks goes to personal loans. Jammu and Kashmir (39.8 percent), Assam (37.3 percent) and Kerala (37 per cent) are other states where personal loans make for a high proportion of overall bank loans.