The Reserve Bank vide its circular DBOD.No.Dir.BC88/13.03.0/2009-10 dated April 9, 2010 introduced the Base Rate system with effect from July 1, 2010, which replaced the Benchmark Prime Lending Rate (BPLR) system. The Base Rate includes all those elements of the lending rate that are common across all categories of borrowers. Banks are allowed to determine their actual lending rates on loans and advances with reference to the Base Rate and by including such other customer specific charges as considered appropriate. All categories of loans are required to be priced only with reference to the Base Rate. The Base Rate system is applicable for all new loans and for those old loans that come up for renewal. Since the Base Rate is the minimum rate for all loans, banks are not permitted to resort to any lending below the Base Rate. Banks are required to review the Base Rate at least once in a quarter.

With the introduction of the Base Rate system, the Reserve Bank rationalised the reporting format for scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) and introduced a new reporting format. Accordingly, data on lending rates of SCBs have undergone some changes for the quarter ended September 2010 onwards. First, banks are now advised to report interest rate range for the entire business contracted as against the earlier system of reporting interest rate range excluding 5 per cent of business contracted at extreme rates on either side. Second, data on interest rate for cash credit have also been added.

Based on the revised reporting system, Tables 1 to 6 have been recast. Table 1 provides the bank-group wise consolidated data on the range of actual lending rates of advances other than export credit. Table 2 presents bank-group wise range of median actual lending interest rates on advances other than export credit. Table 3 presents bank-group wise range of actual lending rates on Rupee export credit. Table 4 provides bank-group wise range of median interest rates on Rupee export credit. Table 5 provides bank group-wise Base Rates and their median. Table 6A presents actual lending rates of individual banks on advances other than export credit. Table 6B provides actual lending rates of individual banks on export credit (pre-shipment), while Table 6C presents actual lending rates of individual banks on export credit (post-shipment).

Two additional Tables (7 and 8) on weighted average lending rate (WALR) of banks have been introduced from February 21, 2014. Table 7 provides bank group-wise data on WALR on outstanding rupee loans from the quarter ended March 2012. The share of outstanding credit of each bank as at the end of the relevant quarter in the respective bank group's outstanding total credit/outstanding aggregate credit of SCBs has been used as the weight for computing WALR at bank group level/SCBs' level. Table 8 presents bank group-wise data on WALR on fresh rupee loans sanctioned from the quarter ended March 2013. The share of fresh credit sanctioned by each bank during the last month of the quarter in the respective bank group's sanctioned total credit/sanctioned aggregate credit of SCBs has been used as the weight for computing WALR at bank group level/SCBs' level.