By Vishu Adhana

New Delhi (India) [India], March 17 (ANI): New Delhi [India], March 17 (ANI): In a year since its launch, the PM Vidya Lakshmi portal has sanctioned over 3.31 lakh education loans, with Rs 7,229.4 crore disbursed for the first year of courses, according to data from the Ministry of Education.

Out of 6,51,974 applications received in its first year till February 24, 3,31,089 have been sanctioned, taking the overall approval rate to around 50.8 per cent. The government has sanctioned Rs 35,939.69 for the entire course duration.

The portal, launched on February 25, 2025, was designed as a single-window platform with a simplified two-page application format to streamline access to education loans and improve transparency in the process.

The PM-Vidyalaxmi (PMVL) scheme, under which the portal operates, was launched on November 6, 2024, by the Department of Higher Education (DHE) in collaboration with the Department of Financial Services (DFS), following its announcement in the Union Budget 2024.

The scheme provides collateral-free and guarantor-free loans to students securing merit-based admission in identified Quality Higher Education Institutions (QHEIs), including top-ranked institutions under the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF).

Under the scheme, students from families with annual income up to Rs 8 lakh are also eligible for a 3 per cent interest subvention on loans up to Rs 10 lakh, with the benefit targeted at one lakh students not covered under other schemes.

Scheme-specific data shows that under PM-Vidyalaxmi alone, 1,00,869 applications have been received, out of which 60,603 loans have been sanctioned, translating to an approval rate of around 60 per cent.

The total sanctioned amount under the scheme stands at Rs 7,754.7 crore, while Rs 1,418.36 crore has been disbursed for the first year across 53,431 loans.

Apart from PMVL, the portal is also processing education loans under other schemes. For these, 5,51,105 applications have been received, with 2,70,486 sanctions worth 28,184.99 crore, and Rs 5,811.04 crore disbursed across 2,04,104 loans.

The platform has integrated a wide network of lenders, including 12 public sector banks, 20 private banks, 24 regional rural banks and 16 cooperative banks, helping expand access to education credit. Efforts to improve efficiency have reduced the average turnaround time for loan sanction to less than eight days.

The government is also running multilingual outreach through educational institutions to increase awareness.

Officials said the Department of Higher Education and Department of Financial Services are regularly monitoring the progress of applications, sanctions and disbursements in coordination with the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) and participating banks, with periodic review meetings to address delays and improve delivery. (ANI)