Top Indian non-bank lenders Bajaj Finance and Piramal Finance have flagged early signs of stress among borrowers taking loans against gold, the fastest-growing lending segment over the past year.
Indian banks and non-bank lenders have rushed to lend to consumers against their gold holdings as they consider these loans more secure.
Bank loans against gold rose 83% on-year in August 2026 to Rs 5.6 lakh crore, according to the latest central bank data. For non-bank lenders, loans against gold rose 69% to 3.6 trillion rupees as of August, separate data from the Reserve Bank of India showed.
While delinquencies in this segment remain low, both Bajaj and Piramal flagged early signs of stress.
Bajaj Finance, which has a gold loan portfolio of 240 billion Indian rupees($2.54 billion), flagged a rise in the proportion of loans overdue by more than 30 days, as part of its July-September quarterly results.