Vidya
Lakshmi is a first of its kind portal for students seeking Education
Loan. This portal has been developed under the guidance of Department of
Financial Services, (Ministry of Finance) , Department of Higher
Education (Ministry of Human Resource Development) and Indian Banks
Association (IBA).The portal has been developed and being maintained by
NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Limited. Students can view, apply and
track the education loan applications to banks anytime, anywhere by
accessing the portal. The portal also provides linkages to National
Scholarship Portal.
Click Here to Apply for an Educational Loan
The Salient features of the scheme are as under:
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The scheme envisages loans up to Rs.7.5 lakh for studies in India and up to Rs. 15 lakh for studies abroad.
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For loans up to Rs. 4 lakh no collateral or margin is required and the interest rate is not to exceed the Prime Lending Rates (PLR). For loans above Rs. 4 lakh the interest rate will not exceed PLR plus 1 percent.
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The loans are to be repaid over a period of 5 to 7 years with provision of grace period of one year after completion of studies
Tax Benefit
Repayment of an education loan is deductible under
section 80E of the Income Tax Act. The yearly limit for deduction is
Rs. 40,000 (for both the principal and the interest). Only loans taken
for higher education - full time studies in any graduate or
post-graduate, professional, and pure and applied science courses - may
claim deduction. The deduction will be available for a maximum of eight
years starting from the day you start repaying.
Equitable Access to quality higher education has been
a concern of the University Grants Commission. To this purpose the
Commission, besides encouraging colleges and universities to provide for
liberal financial support to the meritorious but needy students, has
also been instrumental in educational loan scheme. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued guidelines
in this regard to all commercial banks. A large number of banks have
already launched educational loan schemes. Provided below are links to
the respective website of individual banks offering such facilities.
