South Indian Bank's gold loan growth to slow on new RBI norms, volatile prices
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) tighter gold loan rules are likely to slow growth in one of South Indian Bank’s fastest-growing businesses, with the lender saying the new rules could constrain how much demand it can meet.“The revised RBI guidelines will have a certain amount of impact on how much business we can do,” managing director and chief executive officer P. R.
Seshadri told Mint.The new framework, effective 1 April, requires lenders to classify gold loans as either ‘income generating’ or for ‘consumption purposes’, with the latter capped at ₹2.5 lakh. The norms also tighten loan-to-value (LTV) ratios, introduce stricter verification requirements, impose 12-month limits on bullet repayments and set timelines for the return and auction of gold collateral.The rules come amid a sharp rise in loans against gold and gold jewellery over the past two years, driven partly by soaring gold prices.
RBI had flagged risks from rapid growth in the segment, urging lenders to tighten underwriting standards. Loans against gold jewellery at banks rose 123.1% year-on-year to ₹4.6 trillion at the end of FY26, after growing 121.1% in the previous year.Seshadri said the need to classify loans by end use would lengthen processing times and could reduce the loan amounts some borrowers qualify for, potentially limiting the overall volume of business banks can undertake.
Earlier, lenders largely followed a margin-based approach, assessing the value of the pledged gold and sanctioning loans after applying a margin, he said.“That no longer is a mechanism that RBI allows us to follow,” he said, adding that despite robust demand, the bank’s ability to meet it may decline. “We don't think that we can
. Read on livemint.com