Private-sector capex appears to be in a revival mode. After 14 months of contraction, loan growth to large corporates turned positive in October, although borrowings by medium-sized firms and retail still continue to drive loan books at lenders.
Loans to large corporations rose 0.5 per cent year-on-year to ₹22.7 lakh crore in October compared with a contraction of 1.8 per cent a year ago. All major segments except services – including agriculture, industry and retail – posted growth rates. Overall bank credit rose 6.9 per cent in October compared to 5.2 per cent a year ago, according to the latest data on sectoral deployment of bank credit.

“What is encouraging to see is a 10.7 per cent growth in gross capital formation in Q2FY22, driven primarily by public capital expenditure although there are also signs of a pickup in private capex in the current fiscal,” said Suman Chowdhury, chief analytics officer, Acuite Ratings.

Credit growth to industry including small and medium-sized firms picked up to 4.1 per cent in October 2021 from a contraction of 0.7 per cent in October 2020. Size-wise, credit to medium industries rose 48.6 per cent in October 2021 as compared to 20.8 per cent last year. Credit to micro and small industries accelerated to 11.9 per cent in October 2021 from 0.7 per cent a year ago. Retail loans rose in October 2021 vis-a-vis 8.7 per cent in October 2020 primarily due to ‘housing’, ‘vehicle loans’ and ‘loans against gold jewellery’ RBI data indicated. Credit to agriculture and allied activities registered an accelerated growth of 10.2 per cent in October 2021 as compared to 7.2 per cent in October 2020.