Credit growth plunges in key infra sectors: RBI data

Credit growth plunges in key infra sectors: RBI data A spending push in key infrastructure sectors, such as roads and railways, may be at the heart of the Centre’s efforts to rekindle the economy but attempts to prod the private sector to invest in core sectors seem to be floundering — if lending by banks is anything to go by. Bank credit to the infrastructure sector, which had been steadily

sliding over the first eight months of the current financial year, has recorded its sharpest contraction of 6.7 per cent in November.

The latest data released by RBI Tuesday shows that credit outstanding to the infrastructure sector has slipped from Rs 9,64,800 crore in March 2016 to Rs 9,00,700 crore in November 2016.

The power sector, which accounted for almost 55 per cent of the infra credit demand, saw a contraction of 10.4 per cent in November — down from a decline of 4.8 per cent in April 2016.