SHILLONG : Meghalaya’s banks are collecting far more deposits than they are lending back into the state. For every ₹100 deposited, only about ₹40 returns as credit within Meghalaya, according to an SBI Research comparison of January 2026.
That places the state near the bottom of the Northeast. Only Arunachal Pradesh was lower, at ₹31. Manipur led the region at ₹77, followed by Assam at ₹63, Nagaland at ₹52, Mizoram at ₹51 and Tripura at ₹43. The national credit-deposit ratio stood at around ₹80.
The gap is wide enough to matter. Households, businesses and institutions in Meghalaya are placing substantial funds with banks, yet a relatively small share is being converted into local loans. The reasons are not fully captured by the ratio itself. Limited formal credit demand, a smaller industrial base, collateral constraints and a shortage of bankable projects all play a role. Banks can also deploy surplus deposits outside the state, so the money does not have to stay in Meghalaya.
Every Northeastern state in the SBI Research comparison sat below the national level, but the differences within the region are large. Manipur’s ₹77 is almost twice Meghalaya’s figure.
More recent data from the Northeast Development Finance Corporation for March 2026 covers deposits and credit across all eight states, including Regional Rural Banks. Detailed tables sit behind the NEDFi database.
State Bank of India, the largest bank by reach in Meghalaya, reported ₹18,551 crore in deposits as of 31 March 2026 and a credit-deposit ratio of 52%.
Its lending focus, the bank said, remains on agriculture, MSMEs and entrepreneurship. One bank’s ratio, however, cannot stand in for the entire system.
The state is collecting the money. It is not converting enough of it into loans inside Meghalaya.
