Mumbai

State-owned lenders witnessed a sharp surge in green deposit mobilisation in FY26 amid increased depositors awareness and the maturation of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Green Deposit Framework, introduced in 2023. According to PTI's analysis of banks' Annual reports for 2025-26, eight state-owned lenders raised Rs 3,733.11 crore in FY26 through green deposits, compared to Rs 1,831.79 crore in the year-ago period.

The rise in green deposits reflects a growing focus among banks and depositors towards sustainable finance, with lenders increasingly linking their fundraising efforts with environmentally responsible lending, analysts said.

State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, raised Rs 317.39 crore through its green deposit products till March 2026, with outstanding green deposits recorded at Rs 218 crore as on March 31, 2026.

SBI garnered Rs 189.08 crore through green deposits in FY26, with the entire amount being deployed in clean transportation, particularly in green cars or electric vehicles, as per the Bank's Annual Report for 2025-26. "The amount of green deposit raised has been utilised for financing the Green Car (EV) Loan portfolio," SBI said in its annual report.

The bank said its green car loan portfolio stood at Rs 3,587 crore as of March 31, 2026. Green deposit proceeds have been channelled into this portfolio to align the bank's liability mobilisation and asset deployment strategies.