Educational Loans from Banks

A good number of nationalized banks in India have come up with diverse schemes for providing financial assistance to young scholars, to enable them to fulfill their dreams. According to a circular recently released by the RBI, for studies within the country the ceiling of the loans provided is approximately Rs.7.5 lakhs, while it is Rs15 lakhs for higher studies abroad.

In order to make higher education more accessible, the existing bank education loan schemes will be liberalised so that funds will be available at 200 basis points below the Prime Lending Rate (PLR). Currently, on an average, banks charge PLR for loans upto Rs 4 lakh and PLR+1% for loans over 4 lakh. As of now, 10.75% is the benchmark PLR rate for loans below Rs 4 lakh and 11.75 for those above it. These loans could be priced at 8.75% once the proposed subsidy scheme is implemented.