TN second in offtake of edu loans

[Kalyan]

TN second in offtake of edu loans

While the southern states are acknowledged to be ahead of the rest of the country in most education parameters, the extent of the northsouth divide becomes starkly clear when one looks at loans taken by students for pursuing higher education.

According to finance ministry figures collected from 27 PSU banks, students from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, mostly from rural background, availed 70% of the Rs 901.47 crore disbursed across the country as education loans in the first six months of this fiscal.

These states alone accounted for a staggering Rs 631 crore in study loans. In fact, through the last three years as well, AP, TN, Karnataka and Kerala have retained the top four slots, in that order, in terms of education loan disbursement by the top 10 PSU banks in the country.

The largest state, UP, is at 5th position with students from the state having taken Rs 46.08 crore this year. It ranked 6th in the previous three years. Orissa, by contrast, was at the bottom of the list, followed closely by West Bengal. One of the most interesting cases is that of Bihar.

In the past two years, Bihari students have had a rising exposure to education loans, taking the state to the 8th position from 11th, 13th and 15th positions in the previous three years. Students from the state have taken loans amounting to Rs 17.64 crore in the last six months of this fiscal.

This shows a steady rise in education loans given by banks in the past four years. Education loans disbursed by all PSU banks amounted to Rs 1,242.27 crore in 2007-08, Rs 813.45 crore in 2006-07 and Rs 559.98 crore in 2005-06. Till September this year, Rs 901.47 crore had been disbursed.

Andhra Bank had the largest exposure to education loans this year with Rs 251.34 crore, followed by Canara Bank (Rs 171.80 crore), Bank of Baroda (Rs 130.45 crore) and Indian Bank (Rs 53.88 cr).