Govt announces loans up to Rs 10 lakh for higher education

New Delhi: The Centre on Tuesday announced financial support for loans up to Rs 10 lakh for higher education in domestic institutions even as it slashed the grant for the higher education regulator UGC by over 60 per cent. The allocation for prestigious B-schools -- Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) -- has also been reduced for the second consecutive year, according to the Union Budget.

The budget for school education has been increased by over Rs 535 crore but the grant for higher education reduced by over Rs 9,600 crore from the previous fiscal year’s revised estimate (RE). The overall budget allocation for the education sector has gone down by over Rs 9,000 crore.