Women borrowers' loan portfolio rises to ₹36.5 lakh cr, driven by gold, home, and business loans, while credit card usage sees a decline
Chennai: The outstanding portfolio of women borrowers grew 18 per cent to Rs 36.5 lakh crore in one year, contributed by gold loans, education loans, home loans and business loans. However, the share of the portfolio outstanding for women borrowers in credit cards decreased in 2024.
The outstanding portfolio of women borrowers grew to Rs 36.5 lakh crore in December 2024, up from Rs 30.9 lakh crore in December 2023, growing faster than the overall retail portfolio, which grew 16.7 per cent to Rs 142.3 lakh crore from Rs 121.9 lakh crore. The number of women borrowers with active loans stood at 8.3 crore up from 7.5 crore in 2023.
The portfolio outstanding for women borrowers in retail loans saw significant contributions from gold loans at 43 per cent, education Loans at 36 per cent, home loans at 32 per cent, and business loans at 25 per cent.
The share of the portfolio outstanding for women borrowers in credit cards decreased by 3 per cent from 16 per cent in December 2023 to 13 per cent in December 2024. This decline is also reflected in the reduction of active credit cards availed by women borrowers, which decreased by 4 per cent, with the share of women borrowers in active loans reducing from 17 per cent to 15 per cent during the same period.
Personal loans too saw a 4 per cent decline in outstanding.
Women borrowers from southern states collectively have higher credit exposure across various loan products compared to those from western and northern states.
