Just 41% MSMEs Have Accessed Formal Credit Finds Report
The report found that outstanding commercial credit stood at ₹65.8 lakh crore as of March 2026, across 4.4 crore active commercial trades.
Mumbai: There exists a considerable gap between registered enterprises and credit-active entities in India's MSME ecosystem. As of December 2025, India had 8.7 crore registered MSMEs, while only 3.6 crore had ever accessed formal credit as of March 2026, said the MSME Pulse Report, July 2026, a joint publication by TransUnion CIBIL and SIDBI.
"Only 41 per cent of registered MSMEs have accessed formal credit. New to credit share in originations has declined from 52 per cent in FY2023 to 42 per cent in FY2026. States with low share in new to credit originations and low share in credit penetration present opportunities for credit expansion for enterprises."
The report found that outstanding commercial credit stood at ₹65.8 lakh crore as of March 2026, across 4.4 crore active commercial trades. This is a year-over-year (YoY) growth of 14 per cent compared to the total outstanding credit of Rs 57.9 lakh crore as of March 2025.
The data shows that individual borrowers are emerging as an important segment within commercial credit, accounting for a significant share of outstanding balances. Of the ₹65.8 lakh crore outstanding commercial balance, individuals contributed 28 per cent to the total. This evolution underscores the need to better understand credit behaviour at the borrower level and recognize the diverse ways in which businesses access finance.
"Bridging this gap will require collective effort from all stakeholders to make credit more accessible, relevant, and responsive to the needs of emerging businesses," said Bhavesh Jain, managing director and chief executive officer at TransUnion CIBIL.
Sectoral credit continues to witness concentration in terms of ticket size and geography - e.g., manufacturing is concentrated in textile, engineering and food processing based out of Maharashtra and Gujarat. It becomes imperative to build early warning signals specific to cluster shocks to prevent concentration risks, said the report.
While balance-level delinquencies have remained stable, certain pockets have witnessed emerging stress in early delinquencies - Accounts over 90+ days per due in 12 months since originations for unsecured business loans have shown 2.9 times higher delinquency for Mar 2025 originations when compared to overall. Similarly, enterprise borrowers with aggregate exposure ₹2-10 lakh segment witnessed 2.1 times higher delinquencies.
