India’s credit footprint expands as new states emerge as growth centres | Finance News
Nearly three-fourths of India’s population has accessed credit at least once, with early growth primarily driven by expanding credit access, reveals TransUnion CIBIL’s new report titled ‘Unlocking Access: Journey of Credit Expansion in India’. It presents a study from March 2017 to March 2026 on how formal credit access has widened and how participation within the ecosystem has deepened through greater demographic diversity and credit awareness.
That said, despite this progress, credit penetration remains below the 80 per cent-plus levels in developed markets such as the United States and Canada, indicating significant headroom for growth. Meanwhile, the decline in new-to-credit originations highlights a key opportunity to fuel the next phase of expansion.
First Published: Aug 21 2026 | 5:21 PM IST
