Kolkata, Nov 28 — The Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, revealed on Friday that the state’s student credit card initiative has now sanctionised more than 100,000 loans, a milestone she announced via social media.
In the post she clarified that the programme offers students an education loan of up to ₹10 lakh on a very low interest rate, with the government covering the entire subsidy.
“Happy to share that under our student credit card scheme, the number of sanctioned cases has crossed today the landmark figure of 1,00,000. In this flagship scheme of our government, the students are provided an education loan up to Rs 10 lakh at a very nominal interest rate. The interest subvention/subsidy amount is entirely borne by the state government,” the Chief Minister said in the social media post.
She added that the scheme will keep backing young talents as they pursue their ambitions.
“Wish all our students a very prosperous future,” she added.
The scheme was launched on 30 June 2021, shortly after Banerjee took office for the third time following that year’s assembly elections. It was one of her campaign promises. The benefit is a ₹10 lakh loan with a simple 4 % annual interest rate for students studying in India or abroad, with the full interest subsidy paid by the state.
Despite this, there have been ongoing disputes between the state government and banks over how the programme is delivered. The state often accuses banks of hesitating to approve and disburse loans, even though the government guarantees them. During quarterly meetings of the State Level Bankers’ Committee, finance officials have repeatedly pointed out that some banks sought collateral security despite the state guarantee.
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