Bank credit in India grew 17.94 per cent on an annual basis to Rs 232.54 lakh crore till October 15, outpacing the 16.6 per cent growth in deposits, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday.

Source: The Hindu BusinessLine — RBI data

Bank deposits stood at Rs 284.37 lakh crore as of October 15, 2026, compared with Rs 243.88 lakh crore till October 17, 2025. Bank credit a year earlier stood at Rs 197.17 lakh crore, according to the RBI data reported by The Hindu BusinessLine.

17.94%Bank credit growth, year-on-year to Oct 15
Rs 232.54 lakh croreTotal bank credit as of Oct 15
16.6%Deposit growth, year-on-year
Rs 284.37 lakh croreTotal bank deposits as of Oct 15

Festive demand and surplus liquidity lifted lending

The higher credit growth was attributed to surplus liquidity in the banking system in the early part of October along with the festive season in India. The banking system was flush with liquidity after the large FCNR (B) deposits garnered by banks under the RBI's concessional window, The Hindu BusinessLine reported. Liquidity surplus in the banking system ranged between Rs 2 lakh crore and Rs 4.5 lakh crore between October 1 and October 15, RBI data showed.

Source: The Hindu BusinessLine

The same RBI weekly statement, reported in crore terms by Traders Union, put non-bank deposits at all scheduled banks at Rs 28,436,892.20 crore and bank credit at Rs 23,254,182.56 crore as of October 15 — the same totals as Rs 284.37 lakh crore and Rs 232.54 lakh crore — and said borrowings by all scheduled banks from the RBI fell from Rs 6,451 crore on September 30 to Rs 630 crore on October 15.

Source: Traders Union — RBI weekly statement

Deposits and advances dipped within the fortnight

Within the fortnight itself, outstanding deposits of all scheduled banks declined by Rs 5,17,870 crore in the fortnight ended October 15, on GST outflows and advance-tax payments, and outstanding advances came down by Rs 2,55,875 crore, possibly reflecting the unwinding of short-term business contracted towards the second-quarter end, The Hindu BusinessLine reported in a separate report on the same RBI release.

Source: The Hindu BusinessLine — fortnight report

Within deposits, demand deposits declined by Rs 4,37,032 crore and time deposits by Rs 80,838 crore in the fortnight. Surplus liquidity in the banking system declined from Rs 4,37,549 crore on October 1 to Rs 2,42,482 crore on October 15, the report said.

Banks' investments in central and state government securities rose 9.64 per cent year-on-year to Rs 77.32 lakh crore as of October 15, from Rs 70.53 lakh crore a year earlier, RBI data showed. Of that total, investments in central government securities rose to Rs 77.12 lakh crore, from Rs 70.42 lakh crore a year earlier.