India’s credit demand is gaining momentum across corporate and retail segments, with data centres, small businesses and gold-backed borrowing emerging as key growth areas.
Axis Bank expects its credit growth to exceed the industry average by 300 basis points in the current fiscal year, driven by strong demand from both businesses and retail customers, CEO Amitabh Chaudhry said.
India’s $3.36 trillion banking sector recorded 18.3% year-on-year credit growth in June 2026, up from 9.3% a year earlier. Chaudhry said growth was led by large corporates, non-bank lenders and gold loans, while credit growth remained above 15% even after excluding these segments.
Axis Bank reported a standalone net profit of 71.14 billion Indian rupees for the quarter ended June, compared with 58.06 billion rupees a year earlier. Net interest income rose 8% to 146.46 billion rupees, supported by a 19% increase in domestic loans.
Data centres, renewable energy, manufacturing and urbanisation are driving corporate credit demand. Retail growth is being supported by gold loans and borrowers from smaller cities. A central bank facility allowing banks to access subsidised dollar deposits could further support credit expansion, Chaudhry said.
Axis Bank is selectively expanding its data-centre lending, focusing on developers with strong equity backing, technical expertise and long-term take-or-pay contracts. Chaudhry warned that the segment requires disciplined underwriting despite its growth potential.
“It is seen as a huge opportunity and a lot of players have entered it,” he said. “It might not be such an easy place to play.”
Gold-backed loans rose 94% year-on-year in June. Chaudhry said the increase reflects higher gold prices and lower borrowing costs compared with unsecured personal loans, rather than financial stress.
“Earlier, people would use gold to borrow only in extreme circumstances. Now they see it as a very legitimate way to walk in and borrow,” he said.
Axis Bank is also preparing 2 businesses for potential listings. An internal restructuring involving Max Financial and Axis Max Life Insurance could potentially lead to a life insurance listing within 12 to 18 months.
Axis Finance, with more than 500 billion rupees in assets, is expected to list after reaching 1 trillion rupees, the threshold requiring a listing under Reserve Bank of India rules. At its current growth rate, that could happen within the next couple of years.
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