Haryana beats Punjab in seeking education loans

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Chandigarh, December 9

When it comes to loans for pursuing higher education in India and abroad, it is Haryana, followed by Punjab, from where both public and private sector banks have received more applications in the region in the past five years.

According to the data submitted in Parliament for the year 2018-19, Haryana students submitted 4,716 study loan applications while the number for Punjab was 4,297.

The next year saw a rise of 23.4% in applications from Haryana as the figure reached 5,818, while Punjab witnessed a jump of 29.7% as 5,574 students applied for loans. In 2020-21, the Covid impact was seen as applications dipped by 6.7% and 18% in Haryana and Punjab, respectively. However, in 2021-22, there was a jump of 47.1% in Haryana as public sector banks received 6,771 applications, while private sector banks got 1,218 requests. In Punjab, the rise was 60% as public sector banks received 6,560 applications and private sector banks got 759 requests.

In 2022-23, there were 11,133 applications in Haryana, a rise of 39.4% from the previous year. There were 10,414 applications in Punjab, a rise of 42.3%.

Maharashtra that topped the country in 2022-23 with 78,694 applications, followed by Kerala (66,586) and Tamil Nadu (60,550).

In the Lok Sabha on December 4, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad submitted that scheduled commercial banks follow the Indian Bank Association’s Model Education Loan Scheme for pursuing higher education in India and abroad, which, inter-alia, provides collateral-free loans up to Rs 7.50 lakh. Further, as informed by public sector banks, they also provide collateral-free loans above Rs.7.50 lakh for premier institutes as per their board-approved policies. Their share in educational loans was 83% in 2022-23.