The short answer
Yes, but the amount will be considerably lower and the rate higher. Without GST filings a lender has fewer ways to verify your turnover independently, so they rely on bank statements and ITRs and lend more conservatively — typically around 40% less than they otherwise would.
Why GST matters to a lender
GST returns are filed with the government, are hard to fabricate, and state your sales month by month. They are the fastest independent confirmation of turnover a lender has. Without them, the lender is left with bank statements — which show money received, not sales made — and your income tax return, which arrives once a year and long after the fact.
Less verification means more caution, and more caution means a smaller loan.
What it costs you, roughly
As a rule of thumb, a business with no GST registration is looked at for around 60% of what the same business would get with regular filings. A business registered but filing irregularly sits around 80%. On a ₹1.5 crore turnover business that gap is easily ₹10 lakh or more.
If you are genuinely below the threshold
Plenty of businesses legitimately do not need to register. If that is you, strengthen everything else:
- Get Udyam registration. Free, one day, and it establishes existence and vintage.
- File income tax returns properly, for two or three years, even in a loss year.
- Route everything through one current account. With no GST to corroborate, the bank statement carries the whole burden.
- Maintain a visible average balance.
- Get a trade licence or shop and establishment certificate.
If you are above the threshold and not registered
That is a compliance problem before it is a lending problem, and it is worth resolving on its own merits. From a borrowing point of view, registering and filing consistently for six months will improve your position more than any other single step available to you.
The alternative route
If you own property, secured lending largely sidesteps the issue. The loan is sized on the property, and while income still has to service the EMI, the verification burden is lighter. For a business without GST that needs a meaningful amount, this is usually the realistic answer rather than shopping the unsecured market.
Free, and it does not ask for your phone number.
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