Gold loans accounted for 31% of total securitisation volumes, driven by strong portfolio growth among NBFCs and robust investor demand.
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SHAILESH ANDRADE
Gold loans emerged as the largest securitised asset class in the April-June quarter of the current fiscal, overtaking vehicle loans in the country’s securitisation market, a report said on Monday.
Securitisation, a process through which lenders pool loans and sell them to investors to raise funds and free up capital for fresh lending, saw issuances surge 22 per cent year-on-year to around Rs 60,000 crore in the April-June quarter, a Crisil Ratings report said.
The report said more than 98 per cent of the issuances during the quarter were originated by non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), unlike previous peak periods when banks had also contributed significantly.
Gold loans accounted for around 31 per cent of the overall securitisation volume in the first quarter, overtaking vehicle loans, whose share moderated to around 26 per cent because of fewer issuances by a large originator.
“The robust volume indicates NBFCs ramped up recourse to securitisation for raising funds amid sustained credit demand and healthy investor appetite for securitised assets. Specifically, gold loan financiers saw strong portfolio growth and used the direct assignment (DA) route to source funds,” Crisil Ratings Director Deepanshu Singla said.
He said public sector banks were the key investors in such transactions, attracted by the negligible historical credit losses in gold loans and the associated risk-weight benefits.
Changing asset mix reshapes securitisation market
The rise in gold loan securitisation, coupled with subdued activity by a large private bank that had driven sizeable retail mortgage-backed securitisation (MBS) volumes last fiscal, reduced the share of MBS to 12 per cent from 21 per cent a year ago.
The share of business loan securitisation rose to 10 per cent from 7 per cent, driven by secured business loan pools, while microfinance loans accounted for 14 per cent of the overall volume, up from 11 per cent, aided by improved portfolio performance and demand for priority-sector assets.
The changing asset mix also altered the mode of securitisation, with direct assignment transactions accounting for around 54 per cent of the total volume, compared with 46 per cent for pass-through certificate (PTC) transactions. About 87 per cent of securitised gold loans during the quarter were executed through the direct assignment route.
Banks, including public sector, private and foreign lenders, invested in around 90 per cent of the issuances during the quarter. Other investors included large NBFCs, alternative investment funds, mutual funds, insurance companies, high-net-worth individuals and family offices.
Market growth expected to continue
Crisil Ratings Associate Director Payal Anand said the securitisation market is expected to maintain its growth momentum over the coming quarters, supported by healthy retail credit growth and increasing participation from originators across asset classes.
She said the number of unique originators accessing the securitisation market increased to around 115 in the April-June quarter from around 90 in the year-ago period.
Published on July 6, 2026
