India's ₹142L Cr Loan Boom: Is Your Debt Safe?

Indians owe ₹142 lakh crore in retail loans — up 18% in one year. Most of this growth is in unsecured personal loans. Here's what that means for your EMIs, credit score, and borrowing power.

Here's what happened: India's total retail credit market reached ₹142 lakh crore in the June 2026 quarter, growing 18% compared to the same period last year, according to Experian data.. Unsecured lending — personal loans and credit cards — has been the primary driver of this growth, meaning more Indians are borrowing without any collateral backing.. Despite the rapid growth, overall asset quality in the retail credit segment has remained broadly stable, though pockets of stress in small-ticket unsecured loans are being watched..

What you should do: Calculate your total monthly EMI outgo across all loans and ensure it stays below 40% of your take-home salary — anything higher puts you in the lender's risk category.. Check your CIBIL score now (free once a year on CIBIL's official site) — in a competitive lending market, a score above 750 can save you 3–5% per annum on your next loan.. If you have multiple unsecured loans running simultaneously, compare refinancing options to consolidate them into one lower-rate personal loan and reduce your monthly burden..

Having three or more active loan accounts — even with zero missed payments — can signal 'credit hungry' behaviour to lenders and quietly pull your score down by 20–40 points.