UCO BANK RAM loans reach 65.7% as retail lending accelerates

UCO BANK increased Retail, Agriculture and MSME, or RAM, lending to 65.7% of domestic advances in Sep-26, from 65.2% a year earlier. RAM advances grew 26.9% year on year to Rs 1,68,700 crore, exceeding the 24.2% increase in Corporates & Others, while retail, agriculture and micro, small and medium enterprise lending each expanded.

How did UCO Bank’s domestic loan mix change?

UCO Bank’s domestic advances reached Rs 2,56,700 crore in Sep-26, up 26.0% from Rs 2,03,800 crore in Sep-25 and 5.0% from Rs 2,44,500 crore in Jun-26. RAM advances increased by Rs 35,800 crore year on year, compared with a Rs 17,100 crore increase in Corporates & Others to Rs 88,000 crore. The RAM share consequently rose by 0.5 percentage points year on year and 1.2 percentage points from Jun-26.

The longer series also shows a rising RAM weight after Mar-24. RAM represented 61.4% of domestic advances in Mar-23, fell to 60.1% in Mar-24, then rose to 62.7% in Mar-25 and 65.0% in Mar-26. Over the three years to Mar-26, RAM posted a compound annual growth rate, or CAGR, of 21.2%, ahead of 18.9% for domestic advances and 15.1% for Corporates & Others.

UCO Bank’s Sep-26 mix placed retail at 29.9% of domestic advances, agriculture at 16.0% and MSME at 19.8%. Corporates & Others accounted for 34.3%, down from 34.8% in Sep-25 and 35.5% in Jun-26. Retail gained 1.0 percentage point of portfolio share from Sep-25, agriculture gained 0.5 percentage points, while MSME fell from 20.8% despite balance growth.

Which retail products lifted UCO Bank’s retail advances?

UCO Bank’s retail advances rose 30.2% year on year to Rs 76,820 crore in Sep-26 and increased 7.4% from Rs 71,550 crore in Jun-26. Home loans remained the largest disclosed product at Rs 36,370 crore, representing 47.3% of retail advances. Home-loan balances grew 20.3% year on year from Rs 30,240 crore, producing the largest absolute increase among the reported retail categories.

Vehicle loans recorded the fastest disclosed retail expansion, growing 61.9% year on year to Rs 9,740 crore from Rs 6,010 crore in Sep-25. They also rose 11.4% from Rs 8,740 crore in Jun-26, compared with 5.1% quarterly growth for home loans. Vehicle loans represented 12.7% of retail advances at Sep-26.

Other retail loans rose 44.5% year on year to Rs 19,960 crore, and the pool segment increased 29.2% to Rs 8,160 crore. Personal loans were the exception, falling 0.7% year on year to Rs 2,600 crore and declining 1.9% from Rs 2,650 crore in Jun-26. The reported product data therefore attributes retail expansion to home, vehicle, pool and other loans rather than personal loans.

How are agriculture and MSME lending contributing to RAM growth?

UCO Bank’s agriculture advances grew 29.6% year on year to Rs 41,010 crore in Sep-26 and rose 5.3% from Rs 38,950 crore in Jun-26. Farm credit, which includes crop, investment and allied activities, reached Rs 36,200 crore and grew 32.5% year on year. Agricultural infrastructure and ancillary activities grew 11.5% to Rs 4,820 crore, making farm credit the larger reported component of agricultural lending.

The agriculture book increased in each reported quarter, from Rs 31,650 crore in Sep-25 to Rs 34,950 crore in Dec-25, Rs 37,340 crore in Mar-26 and Rs 41,010 crore in Sep-26. Self-help-group balances outstanding rose 30.5% year on year to Rs 5,980 crore across 193,000 groups. Women beneficiaries increased 9.3% to 18.52 lakh, while the number of groups rose 4.9%.

UCO Bank’s MSME advances reached Rs 50,910 crore in Sep-26, up 20.3% year on year and 7.8% quarter on quarter. Micro enterprises held Rs 32,710 crore, or 64.26% of MSME balances, compared with 55.18% in Sep-25. Small enterprises accounted for Rs 16,780 crore and 32.96% of the portfolio, down from a 41.88% share a year earlier, while medium enterprises held Rs 1,410 crore.

What do UCO Bank’s quarterly figures show about current growth channels?

UCO Bank’s RAM advances grew 7.0% quarter on quarter in Sep-26, compared with 1.4% for Corporates & Others. Retail grew 7.4%, MSME 7.8% and agriculture 5.3%, while total domestic advances rose Rs 12,200 crore from Jun-26. RAM added Rs 11,000 crore over the quarter, accounting for most of the reported domestic-advance increase.

Digital business was another reported channel alongside the portfolio expansion. Digital retail assets rose to Rs 20,830 crore in Sep-26 from Rs 2,240 crore a year earlier, while digital agriculture assets increased to Rs 1,190 crore from Rs 420 crore. Digital MSME assets reached Rs 3,880 crore from Rs 760 crore, and total digital business grew 40% quarter on quarter to Rs 48,590 crore.

Domestic advances grew faster than domestic deposits during the period. Domestic deposits increased 14.6% year on year to Rs 3,32,500 crore, against the 26.0% growth in domestic advances. UCO Bank’s global credit-deposit ratio was 82.29% in Sep-26, marginally above 82.08% in Jun-26 and 75.47% in Sep-25.

Conclusion

UCO Bank’s Sep-26 portfolio data shows a continued shift toward RAM lending, whose 65.7% share was supported by 30.2% retail growth, 29.6% agriculture growth and 20.3% MSME growth. The fastest disclosed retail product was vehicle finance, while farm credit expanded faster than agricultural infrastructure and micro enterprises increased their share of the MSME book.

The presentation does not disclose a RAM target or a scheduled portfolio milestone. The unresolved issue is whether quarterly RAM growth can continue to exceed growth in Corporates & Others after the 7.0% versus 1.4% Sep-26-quarter comparison, while domestic advances continue to grow faster than domestic deposits and the global credit-deposit ratio remains near 82.29%.