Mumbai, Aug. 22 -- India's state-owned banks are sounding more upbeat than their private peers when it comes to corporate lending. SBI, PNB and Bank of Baroda have all lined up massive sanctioned loan pipelines, showing they're ready to fund the next wave of projects.

The catch: companies are not dipping into the money just yet, with muted capex, cheaper money market options, and ongoing repayments holding back actual disbursements, leading to weak corporate loan growth for banks in the first quarter of FY26.

For instance, State Bank of India chairman C.S. Setty told mediapersons in the Q1 earnings call earlier this month that for SBI, utilisation of working capital lines by companies fell from 62% in Q1 FY25 to 58% in Q1 FY26.

While m...