Gold loans jump over 50% YoY, emerge as India’s fastest-growing retail credit segment: CRIF
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Gold loans jump over 50% YoY, emerge as India’s fastest-growing retail credit segment: CRIF")
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The retail credit growth is steadily shifting toward secured lending, led by gold loans and supported by stable housing finance, with the move toward collateral-backed lending identified as a major trend shaping the sector.
The retail lending market of India continued to grow in the fourth quarter of FY26, although the pace slowed sequentially to 4.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter, with gold loans emerging as the key growth driver as lenders increasingly focused on secured and collateral-backed credit, according to CRIF High Mark's latest "How India Lends - Credit Landscape in India" report.
The report noted that total outstanding retail loans stood at Rs 170.2 lakh crore as of March 2026, marking a 16.6 per cent year-on-year growth and a 4.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter increase. Consumption loans expanded 15.3 per cent annually to Rs 118.6 lakh crore.
It further highlighted that retail credit growth is steadily shifting toward secured lending, led by gold loans and supported by stable housing finance, with the move toward collateral-backed lending identified as a major trend shaping the sector.
Gold loans: The fastest-growing segment
In addition, Gold loans became the fastest-growing segment, as portfolio outstanding rose 50.4 per cent annually to Rs 18.6 lakh crore and 15 per cent quarter-on-quarter. The report further attributed the growth to "elevated gold prices, larger ticket sizes and regulatory tailwinds".
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"Gold loans were the standout growth driver," the report noted, adding that the segment also showed improving delinquency trends and reinforcing its role as "the strongest engine of retail credit growth in FY26."
Noting the perspective over the structural growth of the segment, Mohit Jain, Group Head at Axis Bank, stated that the gold loan segment has "now emerged as the second-largest product in retail lending after home loans, underscoring its growing relevance in customer credit portfolios."
"We are also witnessing a shift toward higher ticket sizes, and more income-generating end uses, reflecting evolving borrower needs and increased comfort with loans against gold," he further said.
