Growth in bank credit to industry decelerated to 7.8 per cent year-on-year in January compared to 8.7 per cent in the same month last year, according to Reserve Bank data released on Thursday. The RBI's data on 'Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit January 2024' also showed that credit growth to agriculture and allied activities improved to 20.1 per cent (year-on-year) in January 2024 from 14.4 per cent a year ago. Among major industries, growth in credit to 'food processing' and 'textiles' accelerated in January 2024 against the corresponding month of the previous year, while that of 'basic metal & metal products' and 'chemicals and chemical products' decelerated. Further, bank advances to the services sector grew by 20.7 per cent in January 2024 against 21.4 per cent a year ago. Among major contributors, growth in credit to 'trade' improved, while that to 'non-banking financial companies (NBFCs)' decelerated year-on-year in January 2024. Also, personal loan growth moderated to ..