Overview
- Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced on X that all borrowers under the Student Credit Card Scheme will pay zero interest.
- Repayment timelines have been expanded to 84 monthly instalments for loans up to ₹2 lakh and to 120 instalments for amounts above ₹2 lakh.
- The scheme, launched on October 2, 2016 under the Saat Nishchay Yojana, provides loans to students who have passed Class 12.
- Previous rates of 4% for general applicants and 1% for women, differently-abled and transgender students have been scrapped.
- The announcement comes ahead of Assembly elections, with ₹1,000 crore budgeted this fiscal and Bihar citing low gross enrolment as a motivator.