Gold loans continued their strong growth momentum in July 2026, with lending against gold jewellery by non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) rising 68.5% year-on-year, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The segment had recorded 69.3% growth in June and 43.9% growth in July last year.
The surge comes amid a sharp rise in gold prices, making gold-backed lending increasingly attractive to lenders because of the high-value security involved. However, the rapid growth has also raised concerns about borrowers increasingly using loans for consumption rather than asset creation.Meanwhile, loans for consumer durables jumped 51.5% in July, up from 46.8% in June and significantly higher than the 18.8% growth recorded a year earlier. Housing loans grew 11.9%, while vehicle loans rose 15.1%. Overall, retail credit extended by NBFCs and housing finance companies grew 21.4% during the month.
The RBI data also showed that lending to the services sector slowed to 15.2% in July, while credit to the industry sector grew 7.4%. The figures indicate that while gold-backed and consumption-oriented borrowing is expanding rapidly, credit growth across other sectors remains comparatively moderate.
