Lok Sabha Question No. 439 (STARRED), answered on 2026-03-23
Subject: Decline in Active Student Educational Loans
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Azad Kirti Jha

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 439

ANSWERED ON- 23.03.2026

## DECLINE IN ACTIVE STUDENT EDUCATIONAL LOANS

- *439. Shri Azad Kirti Jha:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of active student loans and overall outstanding value of such loans during the last ten years;
- (b) whether it is a fact that there has been a decline in active student loans during the period from 2014 to 2025 with the overall outstanding loan values increasing simultaneously, if so, the details thereof along with the reasons therefor;
- (c)  the  details  of  key  barriers  in  accessing  educational  loans,  including  high  interest  rates,  collateral requirements, discriminatory banking practices among others, prohibiting poor students from accessing loans along with the measures taken by the Government thereon;
- (d) the details of funds sanctioned and disbursed under PM Vidyalaxmi scheme since inception, month-wise; and
- (e) whether it is also a fact that only 15 percent of the sanctioned budget between February and August 2025 had been disbursed and if so, the reasons thereof along with the measures being taken by the Government to expedite disbursal?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF EDUCATION

(SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

(a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

*****

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) TO (E) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 439 ANSWERED ON 23.03.2026 ASKED BY SHRI AZAD KIRTI JHA, HON'BLE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT REGARDING 'DECLINE IN ACTIVE STUDENT EDUCATIONAL LOANS'

(a)  to  (c):  Education  is  in  the  concurrent  list  and  both  the  Central  Government  and  State Governments work together for its improvement. The Government of India is implementing different education loan schemes for providing financial assistance for higher education to all students who desire to avail education loans to pursue higher education. There is no upper limit on number of education loans that can be sanctioned under these schemes.

The Central Government launched the PM Vidyalaxmi, a new Central Sector scheme in November  2024  that  seeks  to  provide  financial  support  to  meritorious  students  including students from below poverty line category getting merit based admission in Quality Higher Education Institution (QHEIs). Under the PM Vidyalaxmi scheme, students getting merit-based admission in Quality Higher Education Institution (QHEIs) are eligible to get collateral-free, guarantor-free  education  loans  from  banks  to  cover  full  amount  of  tuition  fees  and  other expenses related to the course. There is no upper limit on the number of such loans that can be sanctioned. Further, the repayment can be done up to 15 years after the moratorium period.

Further, the Department of Financial Services (DFS) has informed that all Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) have been advised by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to adopt Model Education Loan Scheme (MELS), formulated by Indian Banks' Association (IBA), 2022 (last amended on 23.6.2025). This scheme is available for  all  sections  of  the  society.  The  main features of the scheme are as under:

- The scheme provides need-based education loan.
- No collateral security or third-party guarantee is required for loans amount up to ₹ 7.50 lakhs, provided they are eligible for Central Sector Interest Subsidy Scheme (CSIS)/ Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for Education loan (CGFSEL).
- No Margin for loans up to ₹ 4 lakhs.
- Moratorium period is allowed up to study period plus one year in all cases.
- Repayment period (after moratorium) is available up to 15 years for all loans.

Further, the RBI vide its Circular on Collateral Free Loans - Educational Loan Scheme, has  advised  that  banks  must  not,  mandatorily,  obtain  collateral  security  in  the  case  of educational loans up to ₹ 4 lakhs.

To facilitate the students from poorer households, the Department of Higher Education is implementing the PM-USP Central Sector Interest Subsidy Scheme (PM-USP CSIS). Under the  PM  USP-CSIS  Scheme,  full  interest  subvention  is  provided  to  all  students,  including students  belonging  to  BPL  who  are  pursuing  technical/professional  courses  from  approved National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) accredited HEIs/National Board of Accreditation (NBA) accredited courses, whose annual family income is up to ₹ 4.5 lakhs and for education loans up to ₹ 10 lakhs, during the moratorium period. There is no upper limit on number of student beneficiaries for this Scheme.

Further under the CGFSEL Scheme, credit guarantee is provided by government for loans up to ₹ 7.5 lakhs for students from all income groups. There is no upper limit on number of student beneficiaries for this Scheme.

In PM-Vidyalaxmi scheme too, a 3% interest subvention support during moratorium period (course period plus one year) is given every year up to one lakh fresh students having an annual family income of up to ₹ 8 lakhs and not eligible for benefits under any other government scholarship or interest subvention schemes on education loans. An outlay of ₹ 3,600 Crore has been made during 2024-25 to 2030-31, and 7 lakh fresh students are expected to get the benefit of this interest subvention during the period.

The DFS has also informed that the details of number of loan accounts and amount outstanding of education loans by the Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs), Regional Rural Banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies, as reported by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), are as follows:

|   Year | No. of Accounts   | Amount Outstanding (₹ crores)   |
|--------|-------------------|---------------------------------|
|   2014 | 24,30,711         | 54,110                          |
|   2015 | 26,82,972         | 63,202                          |
|   2016 | 27,17,418         | 68,493                          |
|   2017 | 26,00,713         | 72,468                          |
|   2018 | 25,65,524         | 77,013                          |
|   2019 | 23,84,641         | 78,544                          |
|   2020 | 23,99,332         | 92,133                          |
|   2021 | 21,35,263         | 90,002                          |
|   2022 | 21,94,042         | 99,728                          |
|   2023 | 23,66,737         | 1,26,388                        |
|   2024 | 24,13,747         | 1,65,126                        |
|   2025 | 24,37,801         | 2,02,792                        |

It may be seen that, post end of COVID pandemic, there has been an increase in number of education loan accounts on Year-on-Year basis from year 2021 to 2025.

Since 25 th February, 2025, a new student-friendly portal https://pmvidyalaxmi.co.in has been  launched,  where  a  simple  2-page  completely  digital  application  format  to  apply  for education loans has been provided to the students. The students can send applications to up to three banks of their choice. As per guidelines of PM-Vidyalaxmi scheme, interest rate charged by  the  banks  shall  be  capped  at  individual  bank's  Externally  Benchmarked  Lending  Rate (EBLR) + 0.5%. In all cases, the banks are also free to charge interest which is lower than this as  per  their  policy.  The  Department  of  Higher  Education  and  the  Department  of  Financial Services,  on  a  regular  basis,  review  the  progress  of  PM-Vidyalaxmi  along  with  IBA  and participating banks. Thus, the measures taken by Government is making the process of availing of education loans by all students, including poor students simpler.

(d) & (e):

The Details of Loan sanctioned and disbursed month-wise under the PM-Vidyalaxmi Scheme is as follows:

| PMVL loans Month wise data (6 th November 2024 to 16 th March 2026)   | PMVL loans Month wise data (6 th November 2024 to 16 th March 2026)   | PMVL loans Month wise data (6 th November 2024 to 16 th March 2026)   | PMVL loans Month wise data (6 th November 2024 to 16 th March 2026)   | PMVL loans Month wise data (6 th November 2024 to 16 th March 2026)   | PMVL loans Month wise data (6 th November 2024 to 16 th March 2026)   |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Sr. No                                                                | Month                                                                 | Loan Sanctioned                                                       | Loan Sanctioned                                                       | Loan Disbursed                                                        | Loan Disbursed                                                        |
| Sr. No                                                                | Month                                                                 | No. of Accounts                                                       | Amount (₹ crores)                                                     | No. of Accounts                                                       | Amount (₹ crores)                                                     |
| 1                                                                     | Nov 24 - Feb 25                                                       | 11268                                                                 | 1099.57                                                               | 11267                                                                 | 537.41                                                                |
| 2                                                                     | Mar-25                                                                | 3243                                                                  | 492.32                                                                | 3098                                                                  | 223.22                                                                |
| 3                                                                     | Apr-25                                                                | 3224                                                                  | 481.15                                                                | 3041                                                                  | 177.91                                                                |
| 4                                                                     | May-25                                                                | 6524                                                                  | 1213.69                                                               | 6056                                                                  | 284.7                                                                 |
| 5                                                                     | Jun-25                                                                | 9532                                                                  | 1626.26                                                               | 8863                                                                  | 343.42                                                                |
| 6                                                                     | Jul-25                                                                | 10975                                                                 | 1329.42                                                               | 10248                                                                 | 269.64                                                                |
| 7                                                                     | Aug-25                                                                | 8979                                                                  | 1055.7                                                                | 8401                                                                  | 214.37                                                                |
| 8                                                                     | Sep-25                                                                | 6887                                                                  | 785.96                                                                | 6410                                                                  | 157.12                                                                |
| 9                                                                     | Oct-25                                                                | 5622                                                                  | 622.48                                                                | 5095                                                                  | 128.24                                                                |
| 10                                                                    | Nov-25                                                                | 4391                                                                  | 481.46                                                                | 3919                                                                  | 104.59                                                                |
| 11                                                                    | Dec-25                                                                | 4808                                                                  | 517.99                                                                | 3940                                                                  | 100.02                                                                |
| 12                                                                    | Jan-26                                                                | 3179                                                                  | 333.65                                                                | 2206                                                                  | 60.26                                                                 |
| 13                                                                    | Feb-26                                                                | 1725                                                                  | 241.23                                                                | 946                                                                   | 39.54                                                                 |
| 14                                                                    | Mar-26 (up to 16 th March 2026)                                       | 489                                                                   | 88.42                                                                 | 171                                                                   | 10.52                                                                 |
| Total                                                                 |                                                                       | 69,865                                                                | 9300.95                                                               | 62,680                                                                | 2131.38                                                               |

In 2025-26, under the Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Protsahan, an amount of ₹ 1454.46 crore has been sanctioned under the Final Grants (FG) and till 18 th March, 2026 ₹ 1454.01 crores  have  been  certified  and  booked,  which  shows  that  nearly  entire  budget  has already been used for disbursal.

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