MUMBAI: Gold loans continued to drive retail borrowing, accounting for more than a third of the incremental bank credit to the retail segment during the first four months of FY27 (April–July 2026).According to the latest Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data on the sectoral deployment of bank credit, overall retail credit commanded the lion’s share, accounting for 36% of all incremental bank credit. This was closely followed by credit to industry at 33%, services at 20%, and agriculture at 9.3%.The banking sector as a whole is witnessing robust momentum. On a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, non-food bank credit expanded by a brisk 19.1% for the fortnight ended July 31, nearly doubling the 9.9% growth recorded during the corresponding period last year.The personal loans segment recorded a y-o-y growth of 16.2%, up from 11.9% a year ago, capturing a total incremental credit of over Rs 2.4 lakh crore.The standout performer was the “loans against gold jewellery” category. It acted as a major growth driver, drawing an incremental credit of Rs 90,888 crore and making up 13.6% of all new non-food credit in the banking system. Vehicle loans also sustained strong double-digit growth, adding Rs 25,877 crore.Conversely, unsecured retail segments showed signs of cooling. Credit card outstandings decelerated, adding just Rs 3,295 crore—a mere 0.5% share of the incremental credit compared to its 1.4% share of outstanding credit. Advances against fixed deposits actually contracted by Rs 7,588 crore.Credit to the industry sector marked a significant turnaround, recording a y-o-y growth of 20% compared to just 6.5% in the same fortnight last year. The sector absorbed Rs 2.2 lakh crore in new credit, capturing a much higher share of the incremental credit pie (32.4%) than its historical outstanding share (21.9%).This industrial push was largely driven by large enterprises, which secured about Rs 1.5 lakh crore in incremental credit, while medium enterprises added Rs 37,051 crore. RBI noted that among major industries, credit to infrastructure, basic metals, engineering, chemicals, and textiles marked particularly buoyant growth.While the services sector registered an impressive y-o-y growth of 22.9% (up from 10.2% last year), it punched below its weight in capturing new credit. Services captured only 20.25% (Rs 1.4 lakh crore) of the incremental credit, noticeably lower than its 28.2% share of the overall outstanding credit pie.