Non-food credit up 22.8%: RBI

Non-food credit from scheduled commercial banks went up by 22.8% to over Rs 35 lakh crore for the one-year period ending February 25, 2011, led by good lending to the industrial and service sectors.

As per the latest data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the non-food credit on February 25 stood at Rs 35,49,744 crore as against Rs 28,89,557 crore in the year-ago period.

Bank credit to agriculture and allied activities went up by 18.3% to Rs 4,38,340 crore as on February 25 from Rs 3,70,394 crore for the year-ended February 26, 2010.

However, industry witnessed robust increase in credit from banks during the one year period ending February 25 this year.

Credit disbursal to the industry sector went up to Rs 15,79,540 crore from Rs 12,48,686 crore during the year.

While the growth in credit was modest at 9.4% to the micro and small industries, there was a big jump of 32% and 29.5% to the medium and large industries, respectively, on an annual basis.

Services also saw a surge of 24.2% in credit intake from banks. Bank credit to services stood at Rs 8,59,779 crore as on February 25 from Rs 6,92,263 crore a year-ago.

The major increases were reported from the tourism and hotels segment which saw an increase of 54.1% in credit offtake, followed by non-banking financial companies (up 46.4%), professional services (up 36.4%) and transport (up 18.3%).

The fourth major sector -- personal loans -- witnessed a more modest rise in credit offtake. Bank credit to personal loans sector was up 16.2% at Rs 6,72,085 crore as on February 25 this year as against Rs 5,78,213 crore a year-ago.

Consumer loans soared by 23.7% during the period, while vehicle loans went up by 28.1%. However, credit cards reported a decline in outstanding loan to the tune of 10.3% on an annual basis.

Source: Business Standard