The PM Vidyalaxmi scheme, which offers financial assistance to deserving students so that their financial situation does not prohibit them from pursuing high-quality higher education, was approved by the Union Cabinet on November 6. Under this scheme, loans up to Rs 10 lakh are offered.
The program, which would enable education loans to students who are accepted into the top 860 QHEIs in the nation according to the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), has been approved with an outlay of ₹3,600 crore. This will annually cover approximately 22 lakh kids.
The student will also be eligible for a credit guarantee of 75% of outstanding default for loans up to ₹7.5 lakhs.
Eligibility criteria
According to the scheme, anyone accepted into a Quality Higher Education Institution (QHEI) will be qualified to receive loans from banks and other financial organisations that do not require collateral or guarantors in order to pay for all of their tuition costs and other course-related expenses.
Under the PM-USP CSIS, students enrolled in technical or professional programs at accredited universities who have an annual family income of up to Rs 4.5 lakhs are eligible for complete interest subsidies for education loans up to Rs 10 lakhs during the moratorium period.
State government HEIs ranked 101–200 in the NIRF, all central government-run institutions, and all HEIs, both public and private, that are ranked within the top 100 in the NIRF overall, category-specific, and domain-specific rankings will all be eligible for the program.
"This list will be updated every year using the latest NIRF ranking, and to begin with 860 qualifying QHEIs, covering more than 22 lakh students to be able to potentially avail benefits of PM-Vidyalaxmi, if they so desire," an official statement said, as per PTI reports.
How to apply?
Through a streamlined application process that can be used by all banks, students will be able to apply for education loans and interest subsidies through the Department of Higher Education's unified portal, "PM-Vidyalaxmi." E-vouchers and Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) wallets will be used to pay interest subsidies.
With inputs from PTI
