CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu accounts for the largest share of bank credit in the country, with nearly Rs 28 out of every Rs 100 lent by banks in India flowing to the state, according to a study based on Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data.
The study, which analysed district-wise credit and deposit data released by the RBI, found that Tamil Nadu accounted for 27.76 per cent of the country’s total bank credit, marginally ahead of Maharashtra at 27.70 per cent.
Karnataka accounted for 8.81 per cent of total bank credit, followed by Gujarat (5.64 per cent) and Telangana (5.12 per cent). Together, these five states accounted for more than 75 per cent of the country’s total bank lending.
The study attributed it to Tamil Nadu’s leading position in the growth of industrial and commercial centres such as Chennai, Coimbatore, Tirupur, Hosur, Salem and Tiruchy. Strong demand for credit from sectors including automobile manufacturing, information technology, textile exports, leather products, engineering industries, small and medium enterprises, and port-based trade has contributed to the state’s share.
The study also highlighted the uneven distribution of bank credit across the country despite the rapid expansion of financial inclusion and digital banking.
According to the findings, more than 54 crore bank accounts have been opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana since 2015, with around 60 per cent of them held by women. More than 70 crore digital transactions are carried out daily through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
As of the third quarter of the 2025–26 financial year, just 11 of the country’s 762 districts accounted for more than 50 per cent of total bank credit.
Among them, Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban and New Delhi alone accounted for 30.3 per cent of the country’s total bank lending. The top seven districts together accounted for 43.4 per cent of total credit.
In contrast, the bottom 381 districts accounted for only 4.9 per cent of total bank credit, underscoring the concentration of lending in a few urban and industrial centres, the study found.