Bengal’s Student Credit Card Scheme Reaches 1 Lakh Sanctioned Cases: CM

MP, 29 Nov 2025, Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday announced that the Student Credit Card (SCC) scheme of Bengal has crossed the landmark figure of 1 lakh sanctioned cases. In a post on X, Banerjee said the flagship initiative, aimed at supporting higher education, allows students to avail themselves of loans up to Rs 10 lakh at a nominal interest rate, with the entire interest subsidy borne by the state government.

“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,” Banerjee said. The Chief Minister also stated that the scheme will continue to help “budding talents” pursue their academic and career goals and extended her wishes to all students for a “very prosperous future.”

“In this flagship scheme of our government, the students are provided education loans up to ₹10 lakh at a very nominal interest rate. The interest subvention/subsidy amount is entirely borne by the state government. The scheme will continue to assist the budding talents in reaching their desired goals. Wish all our students a very prosperous future!” Banerjee wrote on X.

The Student Credit Card Scheme was launched in 2021 to make education more accessible by reducing the financial burden on students seeking to study in India or abroad. In the initial stage after the launch, nationalised banks were reluctant to provide loans against the SCC, and the government had to hold several meetings to bring these banks on board for loans against SCC. During that time, cooperative banks provided loans.

The SCC scheme is designed to support students pursuing secondary, higher secondary, madrasah, undergraduate, and postgraduate studies, including professional degrees and other equivalent courses in any school, madrasah, college, university, and other affiliated institutes within and outside India. Students studying in various coaching institutions for appearing in different competitive examinations like Engineering, Medical, Law, IAS, IPS, WBCS, etc., can also avail of the loan under this scheme. The loan can also be used for purchasing laptops, books, tablets, etc., or for educational travel and research.