Gold loans are at an all-time high
Gold-backed loans soared to ₹2.94 lakh crore last month, setting a fresh record and marking 15 months of nonstop growth.
This jump is mostly thanks to gold prices shooting up by 53% over the past year—not because people are pledging more gold, but because their gold is worth a lot more now.
As Karthik Srinivasan from Icra explains, "It seems more like the gold price has gone up by 40-45% over 12 months. That seems to be the key driver of the gold AUM."
Gold loans from non-banking finance companies expected to grow
Recent changes by the Reserve Bank of India mean you can now get up to 85% of your gold's value as a loan for amounts up to ₹2.5 lakh—a much better deal than most other collateral options.
With ICRA expecting gold loans from non-banking finance companies to grow another 20% in FY26, it looks like this trend isn't slowing down anytime soon.