Vidya Lakshmi Portal: Education Loan Application, Eligibility and More

The government of India launched the Vidya Lakshmi Portal to ease the education loan process for students looking for financial support to study abroad or in India. There are details of 84 education loan schemes offered by 38 Indian banks on the Vidya Laxmi Portal till 1 October 2024. The GOI launched "PM Vidyalaxami Scheme" for Indian students to offer financial assistance for studying in India.

What is the use of Vidya Lakshmi Portal for students? To study in India or abroad, students borrow an education loan from banks or financial institutes. It is tough to explore and compare different student loan offers available for students. Vidya Lakshmi Portal is a stop solution to explore and apply for different education loan schemes. Students can apply for up to three different education loans by filling out a single application form.

The government of India launched Vidya Lakshmi Portal in August 2015. The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education and the Indian Banks Association (IBA) developed the Vidyalaxmi portal to make the education loan process easy for students. Earlier, the process of exploring education loans was challenging. In this blog, we are going to discuss the Vidya Lakshmi Portal eligibility, interest rates and documents required for the Vidya Laxmi Portal application form.

What is Vidya Lakshmi Portal?

The government of India launched the Vidya Lakshmi Portal with the objective that no student misses out on higher education for lack of funds. Vidyalakshmi education loan portal is dedicated to students seeking student loans or scholarships, which is a first-of-its-kind portal. This education loan portal is maintained by Protean eGov Technologies Limited (Formerly NSDL eGovernance Infrastructure Limited). 

The Vidya Lakshmi Portal is an online portal for students to explore, compare, and apply for educational loans and scholarships from anywhere and anytime. The portal also provides linkages to the National Scholarship Portal. Undoubtedly, the Vidya Laxmi portal is helpful for Indian students who are going to study abroad or are looking for student loans in India.

What is PM Vidyalaxmi Scheme?

The Government of India launched PM Vidyalaxmi scheme or the Pradhan Mantri Vidyalaxmi scheme on November 6, 2024. The aim of the PM Vidyalaxmi education loan scheme is to provide collateral-free and guarantor-free loans to Indian students who want to pursue higher education in India. Students enrolled in institutions ranked within the top 100 by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), and those in the 101-200 range from state government and all central government institutions.

Vidya Laxmi Portal: Interest Rates

As mentioned earlier, the vidyalaxmi portal is just a portal where you get an education loan. The Vidya Lakshmi education loan interest rate is not the same for all student loan schemes. ROI varies from bank to bank and scheme to scheme. The banks listed on this portal offer study loans on the basis of the repo rate decided by RBI. If the Reserve Bank increases the repo rate banks will increase the education loan rate of interest.

Still confused about the information regarding Vidya Laxmi education loan interest rate and unable to decide which bank to choose? Public sector banks will offer study loans at lower interest rates in comparison with private sector banks. Always compare interest rates from multiple lenders before making a decision.  

How Vidya Lakshmi Education Loan Portal is Helpful?

This portal is backed by the Government of India under the government’s guarantee cover scheme for Indian banks. If any student who borrowed 7.5 lakhs to study in India, is not able to repay the amount then the government will pay the amount.

Comparing different student loan options and then calculating the total repayment amount using the education loan EMI calculator is a time-consuming process. Here, Vidya Lakshmi Portal comes as a saviour for students. It is a single-window portal with a user-friendly interface to solve issues related to finance for higher studies. Even students living in remote or rural areas can fulfil the dream of getting a higher education. Let’s discuss the advantages of this portal for students in detail.

Benefits of Vidya Laxmi Portal

Vidya Lakshmi Portal aims to make the loan process easy for students. Keeping this in mind, this portal has various student-friendly features and benefits to avail the student loans easily.

• There is a common application to apply for different education loans offered by various banks.
• Students can get information related to any education loan offered by any bank.
• By using the Vidyalaxmi portal, students don’t need to visit the bank branches physically.
• Students can upload the documents for loans using a single window portal.
• Banks can easily download your education loan application and update the status of your loan.
• Students can mail to the bank related to any query.
• The best part is, that students can apply to 3 different banks at the same time.
• Vidya Lakshmi Portal eliminates the extra processing fees and other hidden charges.
• This portal is helpful for students who are going to study abroad or in India.
• There are 38 banks registered on the Vidyalakshmi loan portal to offer 89 education loan schemes. (Updated on 05 August 2024)
• Students can get access to the National Scholarship Portal by using the Vidya Laxmi portal.
• The government will repay the loan amount if any student is unable to repay.

Now, you know the benefits of using this single window portal for student loans. Let us discuss, who is eligible to apply for an education loan by using this portal.

Eligibility for Vidya Lakshmi Scheme

The eligibility criteria for education loans are different from admission eligibility. Banks check the profile of students before approving the loan application. The eligibility criteria to apply for education loans by using the Vidya Lakshmi portal are mentioned below:

• Students must be a citizen of India.
• Should have passed the 10+2 board exam.
• It is important that students pass the required merit entrance exam for admission into college.
• Students can apply for a loan to study in India or any foreign country.

These are just basic eligibility for the Vidya Lakshmi scheme, you may need to complete some other requirements or submit documents to borrow an education loan if any bank asks for it.

Related Blog: 

• Steps to Apply for an Education Loan
• How to Repay Education Loan Faster?
• Public Vs. Private Education Loan Providers

How to Apply for VidyaLakshmi Education Loan?

To begin the application process, students need to create a new user profile on the Vidyalaxmi portal. Here is the step-by-step process to create a new profile on the portal.

Step 1 of Vidya Lakshmi Scheme Application Process

• Visit the official website of Vidya Lakshmi Portal at https://www.vidyalakshmi.co.in/.
• Click on "New User? Register Now"
• Create a new account by using personal details like name, email, phone number, etc.)
• You will receive a verification link on your registered email address. Click the activation link sent to verify your account.

Note: Students need to keep in mind to cross-check the details you have submitted on the Vidya Lakshmi portal, as you cannot change them after submission.

Step 2 of Vidyalaxmi Scheme Application Process

After completing the first step of registering as a new user, the next step is to apply for a Vidhya Laxmi education loan. Use, login credentials to access your account on the portal. Here is the step-by-step process to help you in the Vidya Lakshmi application process.

• Select the “Search and Apply for Loan” option.
• Now, select the country where you want to study (India/Abroad)
• Select the course you want to pursue.
• Select the amount you need to finance your higher studies.
• Select suitable terms and conditions for repayment and select three preferred banks to apply for the Vidya Lakshmi education loan.
• Upload the required documents asked there.
• Do a quick check on the details that you are going to submit.
• After following all the steps mentioned above, click on the “Submit” option.

Now, you can check your loan status on the portal as banks update the status. Also, you can ask banks if you have any queries related to your education loan.

Documents Required for Vidya Lakshmi Education Loan

Here is the list of documents that students need to keep handy at the time of submitting application form.

• Two passport-size photos of students and Co-applicants
• Government-approved Photo ID cards such as PAN card, Aadhar card, and etc.
• In the case of study abroad, students need to have a valid passport, study visa approval and other relevant documents at the time of vidyalakshmi scheme application.
• Birth certificates of the student.
• Academic documents for 10^th and 12^th classes passing certificate or equivalent.
• Letter of admission from the university along with fee structure of the course.

If applicants are salaried employees then they need to submit the salary slip, IT return and Form-16.

Related Blog: Required Documents to apply for education loans 

List of Banks Registered on Vidya Lakshmi Portal

According to the official website of Vidya Lakshmi portal, there are 38 banks are registered. Here is the list of banks registered on the portal of Vidya Laxmi. Students can apply to get education loan offered by these banks.

1. Abhyudaya Cooperative Bank Limited
2. Andhra Pragathi Grameena Bank
3. AXIS BANK
4. Bank of Baroda
5. Bank of India
6. Bank of Maharashtra
7. Canara Bank
8. Central Bank of India
9. Chhattisgarh Rajya Gramin Bank
10. CITY UNION BANK LIMITED
11. Dombivli Nagari Sahakari Bank Limited
12. Federal Bank
13. GP PARSIK BANK LTD
14. HDFC Bank
15. ICICI Bank
16. IDBI Bank
17. IDFC First Bank
18. Indian Bank
19. Indian Overseas Bank
20. Jammu and Kashmir Bank Limited
21. Karnataka Bank Limited
22. Karnataka Gramin Bank
23. Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank
24. Karur Vysya Bank
25. Kerala Gramin Bank
26. Kotak Mahindra Bank
27. New Indian Cooperative Bank Limited
28. Punjab and Sindh Bank
29. Punjab National Bank
30. Rajasthan Marudhara Gramin Bank
31. RBL Bank Limited
32. State Bank of India
33. Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Limited
34. The Kalupur Commercial Co Op Bank LTD
35. The South Indian Bank LTD
36. UCO Bank
37. Union Bank of India
38. Yes Bank

Related Blog: Education Loan Providers for Study Abroad

That's all about the Vidya Laxmi Portal. We hope that this information will be helpful for you to finance your higher education expenses. You can select the ideal education loan according to your needs and apply for it using the Vidyalaxmi education loan portal.

For help with university applications, students seeking to study abroad can contact our Shiksha Study Abroad Counsellors. The comments section below allows candidates to contact us as well.