StoriesData-led stories built on the same verified datasets as the tables — each one ends with the question that matters: so what?Bank creditThe lights came onIndividuals overtook companies as banks' biggest borrowers — and a third of the borrowers added since 2015 are women.The ₹2 lakh lineNearly two in every three bank loans have a limit of ₹2 lakh or less. They hold ₹6 of every ₹100 banks have lent, carry the highest rates in the banks’ books, and there are about 4 crore fewer of them at banks than at the end of 2024.PricesWhat got cheaperOf the 697 goods in India’s wholesale price index, 33 cost less in 2025-26 than in 2011-12 and 103 cost at least twice as much. Solar power systems fell by more than half, and jasmine costs six times what it did.Money and paymentsWhat ₹1 lakh could buyOne sum, carried from 2001 to 2026: what it bought each year in gold, silver, a mason’s days, dollars and wheat, and what it is worth today.Beyond UPI: everything else India pays withIn 2025-26 an RTGS payment averaged ₹65.0 lakh, a cheque ₹1.28 lakh and a UPI payment ₹1,301. RTGS carried 68.4% of all payment value in 0.12% of payments; cheques peaked at 146.1 crore in 2007-08.External debtWhat India owes the worldIn 1991 India pledged its gold to borrow abroad. Its reserves now cover most of what it owes, but what it pays for foreign money has doubled since 2011-12.
