As of Dec. 14, banks' advances grew 5.7 percent, slower than 7.8 percent in the year-ago period, while deposits grew 5.6 percent, compared with 6.5 percent.

"Credit growth is linked to the nominal GDP growth. If we are on a slower GDP growth path, naturally credit and deposit growth will be slower," a senior official with a private bank who did not want to be named said.

The official expects the full-year credit growth to be 14-16 percent. In its second quarter review of the monetary policy, the Reserve Bank of India cut its credit and deposit growth projection by 1 percentage point each to 16 percent and 14 percent, respectively.

India's economy grew 5.3 percent from a year earlier in the July-September quarter, below the 5.5 percent posted for the three months ending in June.

As of Dec. 14, banks' advances stood at 49,626.49 billion rupees ($905.6 billion), up 0.1 percent from two weeks ago, while deposits were down by 0.1 percent at 64,339.34 billion rupees.