Is the bad loan problem shifting to individuals from industries? | Data

Though Indian banks are in the pink of health, the RBI is worried about slippages and delinquencies

Until the mid-2010s, banks used to lend massive loans to big industries. When these businesses failed, their loans turned sour. Such bad loans stayed hidden for sometime. In 2015, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) carried out a review, following which skeletons tumbled out of the closet. The share of bad loans reached as high as 10% in 2017, which meant that nearly one in every 10 loans had turned bad. A variety of debt recovery channels including the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, were used to recover the money. Given the relatively high amount of loans lent to well-known companies, the failures to repay the loans were widely publicised.

Following this debacle, banks started offering fewer loans to industries. They also managed to recover more and more bad loans. As a result, banks reached the pink of health in 2024. The latest Financial Stability Report (FSR) of the RBI shows that Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPA) was at a decadal-low in March this year (Chart 1 ). NPA is the share of total loans that are overdue for more than 90 days.

Chart 1 | The chart shows the Gross non-performing Assets (GNPA) and NPA across years.

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However, reducing loans to industries meant that banks had to look elsewhere to lend and earn. The mid-2010s also saw an increase in loans given to the retail sector. These included personal loans, credit card receivables, housing loans, and similar products. The period also saw a proliferation of instant loan apps, which enticed unsuspecting consumers, especially those younger and more digitally savvy, to take more loans, leading to a debt trap.

The share of retail loans grew so much that the sector surpassed both industries and services to have the most outstanding loans. The alarming growth was noticed by the RBI, which had to bring in regulatory measures to curb the rise. Still, the overall picture remains rosy. In fact, the GNPA ratio of personal loans has been reducing consistently reaching 1.2% in March 2024 — the lowest across sectors and within the segment (Chart 2) .

Chart 2 | The chart shows the GNPA (in %) across sectors.