NBFC Education Loans: Is Your Family Getting a Fair Deal?

TVS Group's Home Credit India is acquiring education-focused lender Varthana Finance. This means more NBFCs are entering education lending — which affects families borrowing for school or college fees. Here's what to watch out for.

Here's what happened: Home Credit India, backed by TVS VENU Group, is acquiring Varthana Finance — an NBFC that focuses on education loans for affordable private schools.. The all-cash deal expands Home Credit's presence into secured and longer-tenure lending segments, beyond its existing consumer finance business.. Regulatory approval is still pending, but the merger signals growing NBFC interest in education finance for middle-income and semi-urban Indian families..

What you should do: Compare education loan interest rates across NBFCs, banks, and government schemes — NBFC rates can be 2–5% higher than bank rates for the same loan amount.. Check whether your education lender is RBI-registered by visiting the RBI's official NBFC list at rbi.org.in before signing any loan agreement.. If you already have a Varthana or Home Credit loan, save all your repayment records — ownership changes can sometimes cause confusion in EMI processing or NOC issuance..

Pro tip: Education loans from scheduled banks (not NBFCs) under the Central Sector Interest Subsidy scheme offer 0% interest during the moratorium period for family income below ₹4.5 lakh — most borrowers never ask their lender about this.