Demand in loans has take a sharp pick in the fortnight which ended on September 10. This pick in demand is a positive ray after two months of slackened growth.

Lending to businesses and individual borrowers has seen a rise by Rs 27,699 crore in the fortnight ended September 10th and has reached Rs 3,331,809.78 crore.

Speaking on the issue, Union Bank of India CMD MV Nair said that the loan book is expected to see a rise in the second half of this fiscal.

Till now, banks have not seen their loan book taking a significant leap. Mostly short term borrowers are avoiding banks as base rate has made short term lending costly for banks.

However, on an incremental basis, the credit growth is higher - 3.3% until end August against 1.1% in the year-ago period.