MUMBAI: Women borrowers now account for Rs 76 lakh crore of credit, or 26% of total system credit in 2025, marking a near five-fold rise since 2017 and signalling a structural shift in India’s credit landscape.A joint report by TransUnion CIBIL, Niti Aayog’s WEP, and MicroSave Consulting said women are moving from being passive beneficiaries to active drivers of credit demand. The number of women availing formal credit grew at a CAGR of 9% between 2017 and 2025. Outstanding credit for women rose 4.8 times in this period compared with 2.9 times growth in overall credit. “The number of women availing formal credit in India has grown at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9% between 2017 and 2025, underscoring their increasing engagement with the financial system. Outstanding credit for women borrowers has grown 4.8 times since 2017, compared with 2.9 times for total credit, indicating a significantly faster expansion. In recent years, the growth of digital infrastructure has facilitated easier onboarding, faster loan processing, and improved access to information,” said Bhavesh Jain, MD and CEO, TransUnion Cibil.Women’s share in retail loan originations rose to 27% in 2025 from 24% in 2022, reflecting broad-based growth across segments. Their share in housing loan originations increased to 69% from 63% over the same period, indicating a rise in asset ownership and participation in financial decisions. In consumption credit, women’s share rose to 19% from 16%, while in gold loans it increased to 37% from 36%. The share of new-to-credit women borrowers in retail credit rose by 10 percentage points to 38% in 2025, showing expansion into previously unserved segments.“At Niti Aayog, we recognize that access to finance is a structural enabler of women’s economic participation. Through platforms such as the Women Entrepreneurship Platform and the Financing Women Collaborative, we are working to strengthen ecosystem coordination,” said Nidhi Chhibber, CEO, Niti Aayog.The report said rising access to credit is translating into greater economic participation. The number of women with active business-purpose loans grew at a CAGR of 31% over the past three years, indicating a shift towards enterprise activity. Digitisation has reduced turnaround time, with same-day approvals in consumption loans rising to 45% in 2025 from 34% in 2022. Around 19% of active microfinance borrowers now hold individual retail or commercial loans, suggesting a move towards more complex financial products.The report outlined measures to expand participation further. It said lenders should use digital transaction data such as UPI histories for underwriting, especially for borrowers without collateral. It called for strengthening last-mile digital capability through collectives and peer networks to build trust. It recommended lifecycle-based financial products that combine savings, credit, and literacy, with a focus on women under 35. It also said expansion should be supported by better risk segmentation and use of alternative data to bring unserved women into the system while maintaining portfolio quality.The report said the ecosystem should track progression metrics such as graduation rates and multi-product holding instead of focusing only on disbursement volumes. It also called for vernacular and voice-enabled digital models and integration of non-financial support such as market linkages to help women-led businesses scale.

Billionaire Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani have moved to challenge a US securities fraud case, asking a federal court in New York to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding a 2021 bond issue by Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL).In a filing before the Brooklyn federal court, Adanis, through its lawyers, denied wrongdoing and stated that investors suffered no losses in the bond issue being challenged, as per news agency PTI.

SEC case linked to 2021 Adani Green bond offering

The SEC had sued Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani in November 2024, alleging they were involved in a scheme to pay or promise hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to Indian government officials to benefit Adani Green Energy, where both hold executive and board roles, according to Reuters.The regulator’s case centres on allegations that Adani Green failed to disclose the alleged bribery scheme in documents tied to a $750 million bond offering in 2021.The Adanis, in a pre-motion letter filed ahead of a planned April 30 dismissal request, argued that the SEC’s case over the 2021 bond sale is flawed on several legal grounds.

Adanis argue US court has no jurisdiction

A key plank of the defence is that the case falls outside US jurisdiction.According to PTI, Adanis argued that the court lacks personal jurisdiction because neither of them had sufficient contact with the United States or direct involvement in the bond offering.Their lawyers said the $750 million bond issue was conducted outside the US under Rule 144A and Regulation S exemptions, with the securities initially sold to non-US underwriters and only later resold in part to qualified institutional buyers.The defence described the SEC’s claims as “impermissibly extraterritorial”, arguing that both defendants are based in India, the alleged misconduct took place entirely in India, and the bonds were never traded on a US exchange.The filing also says the issuer is Indian and the securities were not listed in the US, strengthening the argument that US securities law should not apply.

Defence says no investor losses, no credible bribery evidence

The Adanis have also argued that the SEC has failed to show investor harm.The filing states the regulator does not allege any investor losses, adding that the bonds matured and were fully repaid with interest in 2024.The defence further disputes the underlying bribery allegations. The Adanis said there is no credible evidence supporting the claims.

Filing says SEC failed to show direct role or intent

The Adanis’ lawyers also argued that the complaint does not specifically tie Gautam Adani to the bond issuance.The filing says the SEC does not allege that he approved the issuance, attended key meetings, or directed activity aimed at US investors.The defence also said the SEC failed to show a “domestic transaction”, which it argued is necessary under US Supreme Court precedent for US securities laws to apply.In addition, the filing says the SEC has not linked either Gautam or Sagar Adani to specific misleading statements or demonstrated any intent to defraud.Statements cited by the SEC about ESG commitments, anti-corruption standards and corporate reputation were described by the defence as non-actionable “puffery”, or broad corporate optimism that investors could not reasonably rely on, according to PTI.Adanis are now seeking dismissal of the SEC case in full and have said they are ready to appear for a pre-motion conference if needed.