New Delhi: According to data from 2012–13 shared with the Lok Sabha on Monday by Bhagwat Karad, minister of state for finance, the number of students taking out loans to study abroad has climbed 215% over the last ten years.
From 2012 to 2022, 4.61 lakh students took out loans for their studies overseas; 9.18% of them, according to Karad, took out loans to study medicine. Over the same time frame, the number of borrowers tripled, going from 22,200 in 2012–13 to 69,898 in 2021–22. The rise was constant up until the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020–21.
Student loans worth Rs 39,268.82 crore, or almost all of India's projected higher education budget of Rs 40,828.35 crore for 2022–23, were disbursed in the previous ten years, according to data disclosed before parliament. Loans of Rs 1,790.16 crore of this money were given out for medical education abroad.
By launching the Vidya Lakshmi portal (vidyalakshmi.co.in) in 2015, the government has facilitated the application process for student loans. It acts as a single-window system for application and tracking and compiles all information about student loans.
