Kochi: More students are now taking education loans, and they take more amounts, too. Not just that, they are prompt in repaying them.
According to Harshala Chandorkar, senior vice-president of credit Information Bureau India Limited (CIBIL), the total amount of loans the students have availed in India has crossed Rs 63,800 crore.
The banks last year gave 1.3 lakh education loans across the country. “The average loan amount the banks sanctioned has grown from Rs 4.5 lakh in 2013 to Rs 6 lakh in 2014,
indicating a sharp increase in educational expenses,” she said. The loans below Rs 1 lakh has become less than 10 per cent, she added.
Ms Chandorkar said after repayment rate in educational loans has improved of late, and the reason could be the increased awareness of the customers about the CIBIL data and its importance in their ability to get bank loans.
“Delinquency in loans has come down from 3.5 per cent in the last quarter of 2012-13 to 2.7 per cent for the same period in 2013-14,” she said.
“This is at a time the Reserve Bank of India has expressed concern over the increasing rate of default in educational loans.” Banks access the credit scores of both the students and their guarantors before deciding on loan applications, and hence it is imperetative that they keep a healthy credit history if they are planning to fund their education through loans,” she said.
At present CIBIL takes only banking transactions into account while deciding on credit score. “ We are in talks with various agencies on taking utility payments as one of the criterion,” she said.
“Given the high level of mobile phone penetration, even payment of telephone bills can help a lot of people into the system and make access to bank loans possible,” she said.
