New Delhi, Sept. 10 -- Competition in India's gold loan market is set to intensify as new players plan to add around 3,700 branches in 2026-27, more than double the roughly 1,500 branches added in the previous year, while expanding into states where traditional gold financiers have a smaller presence, Jefferies said in a report.

The expansion by new players, which currently account for about 18 per cent of non-banking finance companies' retail gold loans, would be equivalent to around 20 per cent of the branch network of the top four gold-focused NBFCs, the brokerage said.

The report said new entrants are increasingly targeting North, West and Central India, particularly Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh....