Education must be given priority sector status: Kapil Sibal
Published on Tue, Mar 09, 2010 at 21:25 | Source : CNBC-TV18
Updated at Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 10:43
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Education must be given priority sector status: Kapil Sibal
The Human Resource Development Ministry is all set to establish the Education Finance Corporation, a body to monitor easy capital in flow in the education sector, with a corpus of Rs 20,000 crore.
The Human Resource Development Ministry is all set to establish the Education Finance Corporation, a body to monitor easy capital in flow in the education sector, with a corpus of Rs 20,000 crore. In an exclusive interview to CNBC-TV18, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal highlighted his plan for the new authority.
"It is in the form of a proposal at this moment. If education is charity as the Supreme Court says it is, then those who want to set up an educational institution should not have to borrow at commercial rates of interest and return the loans in seven years time. Education must be given the status of priority sector, so that those who want to set up institutions can access finance and return those loans on a long term basis - 20-25 years."
He added that the Ministry is in the process of discussing the move with the Planning Commission.
Meanwhile, sources say five banks have been approached to assist in the setting up of the Education Finance Corporation. The proposal has been drafted after consulting State Bank of India, Union Bank, and Bank of India. However, IDBI and Corporation Bank have opposed its setting up. Banks argue that lower rate of interest would impact margins, sources added.
On next page: Verbatim transcript of the exclusive interview with Kapil Sibal on CNBC-TV18. Also watch the accompanying video.
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